AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ry, don’t.”
“It was, wasn’t it? Are you in love with him?”
“No, but I’m about 99 percent sure you are.”
He rolled his eyes and tightened his grip. “Stop it. I’ll ask you again: are you in love with him?”
She peeled back his hand and shoved it away. “You want me to say yes, don’t you?”
“If it’s the truth, then yeah, I guess I do.”
“The truth. Like that matters.”
“It does to me. Especially when it has to do with you and him.”
“You’re way too obsessed with what goes on between me and him. Why?”
“Because you keep telling me you guys are just friends when I know the truth. I wanna hear it from you.”
“Fine. You want the truth?” She hesitated. “We’re just friends who hook up. A lot.”
He laughed bitterly. “Right. It couldn’t be more obvious that you’re in love with him.”
“Grow the fuck up, Ryan!” she yelled, catching the attention of some drunken passersby, who immediately began to cheer. “You wouldn’t know the first fucking thing about being in love. And newsflash: you and me? We’re not together anymore. Not that we ever should have been in the first place. But we’re not, and you need to accept that and move on.”
She stormed off, but he followed. “It’s kinda hard to move on when you constantly lead me on. Maybe you should stop messing with my fucking head if you don’t want me.”
She turned around to face him. “I don’t want you? Are you out of your mind? I haven’t stopped wanting you since the second I saw you. This has nothing to do with whether I want you.”
“Then why did you give up on me? On us?”
“You know why, Ryan. Don’t play dumb.”
“He’s three years younger than me!” he yelled.
“And I’m not with him either!” she yelled back.
“It’s just strange, you know? We invite him into our bed, we break up immediately after, then I come back from Worcester, and suddenly you’re making out with him in the middle of a club.”
“You invited him into our bed. Don’t ever forget that. Not me. You. I agreed to play within your little boundaries, and you changed the rules. And I think we both know why you changed them. You’re just not ready to admit it yet.”
He reached up and grabbed her face with both of his hands and pressed his forehead to hers. “Yeah, it’s because we both know you were gonna end up on his cock either way. I just got out ahead of the heartbreak…babe.” She pushed him away. “Oh, sorry, I forgot. That’s his ‘lil pet name for you. What should I call you? Come on, you’re a writer. Is there a word for a cold-hearted bitch who broke my heart but continues to shit all over it for fun?”
She shook her head, disgusted, and stormed off again. “You’re fucked up, Baylor!” she shouted.
“You think?” he yelled, chasing after her. “Yeah, ‘cause you’ve got your shit together, Miss ‘I’m divorced and prey on younger guys because I can’t get anyone my own age.’ The younger and stupider, the easier they fall for your bullshit lies. Right, Amara?”
She stopped, whipped her head around, and glared at him. His eyes were waiting for hers; they always were. And for the briefest of moments, she caved, allowing herself to see in them the guy she’d almost instantly and stupidly fallen for over the past few months instead of this stranger who stood before her now.
And no matter how hard she tried to get past it, every time she looked at him, it was always front and center: the persistent, agonizing fact that he was 18 years younger, and how much that age gap complicated just about everything between them.
As much as he’d hated it, his anger often begged him to say something hurtful to her, and he wished to God he was strong enough to tell it no. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed, knowing he’d taken it too far.
“Fuck you,” she hissed. “You wanna bring my divorce into this? You wanna say hurtful shit? Nice to meet you, Ryan. At least I’m not some pathetic slut who’s completely incapable of love. And for the record: I don’t ‘prey’ on anyone. They come willingly. You’d know better than anyone.”
“Oh, that’s rich. The woman who only bangs guys half her age calling me a pathetic slut. What’s next for you, Amara? You gonna start hanging outside the high school during dismissal?”
“You’re disgusting.”
