Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95559 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
“No, Ky, that’s not true. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“Wouldn’t you?” Kyler’s eyes flash once, and he looks up to the ceiling while shaking his head. “You used me! How else would your stupid Abercrombie boyfriend and his lowlife dad know where to find us? You clearly had this planned all along. I mean—” He laughs once, bitterly.
“Think about it! You both knew who I was because of my friendship with your brother. All it took was for you to put two and two together from the photo they had of Ally with me in the background and the connection was made. You could put your stupid plan in action. Did you have fun plotting all the ways you could get close to me? Did your boyfriend fantasize about you fucking another guy?”
“No!” My response is half gasp and half sob. “Ky, it’s not like that—”
“Then how is it, Thea? Tell me! If it’s not like that then why would you hand over your phone to him without question? Why would you let him track where you were? Why do you still trust him after everything you know about him?”
“Kyler, I swear to you, I didn’t know anything about this. I didn’t know Adam or his parents knew about Lacey being Austin’s child. I didn’t know about the photo.”
“No? So, I guess you didn’t know about the check either?”
Kyler pulls out a folder piece of paper and throws it on the counter. I pick it up and open it, my eyes widening in disbelief as a feeling of light-headedness takes over.
“What . . . what is this?” I ask.
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s payment for my cooperation. Twenty-thousand bucks to stay away from you. Your piece-of-shit boyfriend had great pleasure in specifying the terms. Now you both can run off into the sunset together and live your perfect life and leave me the fuck alone.”
“Ky, please believe me. This is all Adam and his dad. They’re the ones who planned all of this. Everything I felt—feel—for you, what we have together, it’s all real.”
Ky laughs once, bitterly, and his eyes slowly meet mine. There’s a cold, darkness to his stare. He takes something else out of his pocket, and I immediately recognize the black leather of the band I gave him at Christmas. Once again, he throws it on the counter, and it comes skidding to a stop in front of me.
“Yeah, well, I don’t feel anything for you. It’s over, Thea. Whatever we had? It’s done. You know, the thing is, if you were just messing around with me, I could probably handle it. Take it on the chin and move on. But you brought my family into it. My niece, who’s innocent in all of this. You’ve put her in danger. My sister is living in fear of Lacey being taken away from her. And that? That is unforgivable. I told you before you had the power to destroy me. Well congratulations, you’ve succeeded. You’ve obliterated me. You and him? You deserve each other.”
Kyler’s words attack me like a predator kills his prey. Over and over, they peck and damage and pierce and hurt until I succumb to the pain. My chest tightens and my limbs tremble as I take deep, calming breaths to try and ease the caustic affect his words have had on me. The tears roll down my face and my attempts to hold back the heaving sob at the back of my throat fail.
“Please, Ky, please? Just give me a chance to fix this. To prove to you the Nelsons did all this by themselves. I swear to you, I didn’t know anything about it. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you or your family.”
“No, Thea. There are no chances.” Ky looks at me again, and the coldness in his eyes have a finality about his decision. He turns and walks toward the stairs, stopping at the bottom to deliver the last devastating blow.
“You don’t have to worry about tiptoeing around me for the sake of the others; I’ll stay out of your way. I’m not your problem anymore.”
With his last words, the realization I’ve lost him comes crashing down around me.
twenty-eight
Kyler
The couch at my mother’s is fucking uncomfortable, and the food sucks. I miss my bed, my house, my damn teammates, and unfortunately, I miss Thea. I miss her smile, the food, the sex. But mostly, I just miss being in her presence. I never thought my cold, dark heart could break, but it has, and I don’t know what pain is worse: the pain my face feels, or the ache in my chest.
The front door opens and Lacey rushes toward me, barely dropping her backpack before she’s checking me over. Since my incident—as she calls it—Lacey is determined she will be a doctor instead of a hockey player. Honestly, I’m sad because having another Rose on skates would be badass.