Page 126 of The Difference Between

I cut myself off but it’s too late. I know what I’ve said even without meaning to.

He was mad before, but the hurt on his face right now is so much worse.

“Finish it,” he grits out.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“C’mon, Reese,” he sneers. “You’re the expert on knowing what makes people perfect. Genetic what?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

He scoffs. “Sure as shit sounded like it to me.”

At this, I am livid. A switch is flipped and the world goes red.

“I’ve never once said Addie isn’t perfect the way she is,” I argue. Over whatever bullshit he tries to say, I add, “And you don’t know me.” Every word wants a fight. “You’re the one following me around like a lost puppy I don’t want. And what I do is none of your business. I’m leaving. In months.”

He smacks the steering wheel. “Why?”

I rear back. “What do you mean why? What else do you think I’d do?”

“You stay!” He shouts it like it’s the most obvious option there is. “Or were you really going to let Addie and me fall in love with you then just walk away because we aren’t good enough?”

My blood rushes a little faster in my veins at what he’s saying. Maybe I’ve thought of it in snapshots, but this is a real question. And he doesn’t get to assume I’m going to stay without asking me what I think. Or act like me choosing what’s best for a baby is a bad thing. “You can’t fall in love with me.”

He lets out a mirthless laugh. “You don’t get to control who I fall in love with.”

“Oh!” Now I laugh. “Yes I do, Gavin. I get to control everything, remember? Especially when it comes to me. And I’ll be damned if some achievemephobic is where I relinquish that control.”

He might want to strangle me. “I’m guessing that’s something that’s not as good as claustrophobic.”

I smile sweetly. “The fear of excellence.”

“The fear of—” He snaps his mouth closed, rage making a vein bulge on his forehead. “Because I’m happy with what I have?”

“Because you’re happy with mediocrity!” Up until now, I’d warmed up to this part of him. Seeing him be so happy despite all he’s lost and hasn’t achieved. I was almost smitten by his contentment with his simple life with Addie. But any progress I made there is as dead as we are, because all I can think about right now is punching him again. All I can see in the blurred periphery of my rage is his dream shed he doesn’t live in, money he’s turned down, the degree he didn’t get, and excellence he doesn’t know how to choose.

His fists clench midair, and he squeezes his eyes shut for two seconds. “You are too damn smart to be this fucking stupid.”

I tug at the handle at the same time Gavin locks the door.

“You’re kidnapping me?”

He rolls the windows down a crack. “Wouldn’t want you to get scared.”

He smiles his fuck you, and I flip him off.

“Fuck the woman with a heart made of ice?” He scoffs. “Pass.”

“Oh.” I suck in a sharp breath. “Better than yours made of Greg’s precious glass.”

That was low, even for me, but he doesn’t flinch. “Better than chasing perfection that doesn’t exist and refusing to see what’s right in front of you because it doesn’t look the way you think it should. You can’t even admit what you want!”

I’m shaking. More than I was when we were trapped in that closet. “You don’t know anything about me. Anything. Especially about what I want.”

He scoffs. “Okay.”

That okay is a piece of rage bait if there ever was one, and I willingly bite into it. “You really want to play this game?”