Rage explodes through me. I grip the steering column and crank the engine. I peel out of the parking lot and don’t look in my rearview mirror.
Of course Ever would fucking choose Braxton over me. He’s Gwen’s favorite. Is better looking. Funnier. Lives life with one foot in the grave and another on the ground. That’s what a routine, shy, but with attitude woman like Ever needs to keep her attention and make her become a better person than she is now.
I pound the steering wheel.
She doesn’t need changing, damn it. Ever is perfect the way she is, and perfection belongs with perfection. Braxton is perfect in every way.
Damn.
I’m gonna have to go back on my word to Cormac Moretti and break his little girl’s heart.
41
EVER
Bobby is waiting at the front door when Gage pulls into the driveway.
He parks. I move slowly, though excitement thrums through my veins in this whoosh, whoosh, whoosh that gets me lightheaded with giddiness the closer I get to Bobby.
I open my arms for a hug. His stern expression and slow shake of his head stop me. He addresses Gage first.
“Can I have a private word with Ever?”
“No need to ask permission. She’s your woman, and you saved her fucking life. Much respect, man.”
They fist bump. Gage goes inside the house. I stand and move from foot to foot. Why the serious expression? Why doesn’t he want to touch me? For me to touch him? It’s been two weeks. Yes, I asked for the time, but I needed to sort through my jumbled thoughts. Plus, I didn’t want Bobby to see me hurting mentally and physically. I never want him to see me weak.
But he said submitting isn’t a weakness. Trusting someone to keep me safe isn’t weak. I trusted Bobby to protect me, and he did. It was Corey who kidnapped me. It made me hurt more knowing I was hurting Bobby by having him stay away from me.
“We’re done, Ever.”
Three words hit me like the butt of Corey’s rifle did. My head spins. My chest aches. My throat tightens. I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”
“You asked for time. I took it and thought over our time together.” He jams his fingers in his pants pockets, tips his head back like he’s blinking away tears, and looks at me with his jaw clenched. “We won’t work, Ever. Our age difference . . .” He pulls his shoulders to his core. “I want to settle down and start a family sooner rather than later. You’re twenty-one with your entire life ahead of you. Fall in love many times over. Travel the world. Make new friends.”
He removes his hands from his pockets and sets them on my shoulders, like we’re friends or he’s my brother. I knock his hands away. He is not my friend, and I most definitely do not see or think of him like a brother.
His next words are the nail in the coffin of our relationship.
“Everything I do serves a purpose. You served a purpose, Ever. I knew who you were the night we met. I also knew you were Carlos’s girl. Slate told me you were there to dance in your boyfriend’s memory. It was the anniversary of your boyfriend’s death. I used you, lied, and manipulated you to get you to fall in love with me.”
His jaw tightens. His sea-glass eyes darken. I listen with a raging storm in my belly, and I’m on a sinking ship at sea. Tears prickle my eyes. I won’t cry. For fuck’s sake, Bobby is breaking up with me, and I will not cry. I’ll show him I don’t care that he’s shattering my pieced-together heart, because of his love, into pieces again.
“I had to understand what your appeal was for a man ten years older to fall for you. After spending time with you, I gained a deeper understanding. Then I gave you closure by helping to catch his killer. We’re done,” he repeats, and that is the final hit from the hammer on the nail’s head. “Thank you for making me feel seen and belong like I’ve never felt seen or belonged before.”
He walks past me and avoids looking at me. I drop my gaze to my feet. Instead of teal Chucks, I’m wearing pink ones, given to me by Bobby for learning how to ride a motorcycle. My feet are rooted to the ground. My mind is screaming for me to go after him.
I turn. He does too. Except this nightmare doesn’t go away. It gets worse.
“Keep to my rules, Ever. No contact.”
What do I say to that? I don’t. I nod.
His face softens. “Did I leave you speechless, beautiful?”
Oh God, the sadness and regret in his voice. I straighten my spine and put steel armor over my heart. “You didn’t. Goodbye, Bobby Bliss. I was never yours.”
I turn and walk inside the house before I can give him the chance to remind me of his “never say never” bullshit. If he had, I’d say “Bring it.”
