"That what we've been doing for the past two months has been a joke," she said loudly. "Why did we ever think that this could work? Heck, really it's more like why didIever think this was going to work? Yeah, let's secretly date and I can watch you flirt and kiss other women. Sounds like a great plan."
I clenched my jaw at her comment. "It was one kiss with one woman, and she kissed me. I had no desire to kiss her, I had no desire to even stand by her, but with Coach Matthews in there watching me like a hawk, I was trying to act like I wasn't drooling over his stepdaughter," I said, matching her tone. "And I've told you, you're the only girl I care about, the only girl I can't stop thinking about. You're the girl I want to be with."
She shook her head slightly. "You can tell me all you want, but it doesn't change how it feels to have to watch you be with other women, that at the end of the day you and I aren't real. We live in some made up world, but in the real world we don't exist. You're a single footballer who's a playboy and I'm the idiot who stands around waiting for my turn."
"What about that guy you danced with that one night at the Wolf's Den? That wasn't you just waiting around," I reminded her.
"Once." She raised a finger. "One time I acted single. And how well did you handle that, Rush?"
I ran a hand through my hair, glancing away.
She had a point. I'd been a jealous maniac and had about punched the guy.
"I didn't handle it very well," I gritted out.
"Yeah, exactly," she said. "This doesn't work.Wedon't work."
"Don't say that," I begged. "You make me happier than I've ever been. All I want to do is be with you."
This conversation was spiraling fast. I just wanted to apologize and have us move on.
"I'm so sorry," I said again, reaching for her hand. "I hate that I've hurt you."
She let me hold her hand, but her eyes looked sad. "But yet you keep hurting me."
I flinched at her words, dropping her hand.
Ouch.
Couldn't she see that I hadn't meant to hurt her? That it was important I played the part? My football career was on the line, my free ride to college, my family's expectations, and a whole team of guys who were counting on me.
"Again, I'm sorry. I don't know what you want me to do." I held my arms out, desperate to figure out how to fix this.
The elevator doors dinged, and Olivia rushed out toward us.
When she reached us, she laid a hand on Scarlet's arm, completely ignoring me. "Hey, you ready to go?"
"Yeah," Scarlet answered, but she was still looking at me.
"Scarlet..." I wracked my brain for something to say to her, something that would keep her here with me, something that would erase the last fifteen minutes.
She stepped back from me. "Please don't come see me. Please don't call or text me. It will just make things harder. You once said if I ever didn't want to do this anymore to tell you and we'd be done. Well, I'm telling you now. I don't want to be your secret girlfriend anymore. We can't be a normal couple, and I can't keep doing this," she said, motioning her hand between us. "We have to face the fact that we aren't meant to be and start moving on."
"But—"
"No, Rush," she cut me off. "There's no but. I can't do this anymore. Iwon'tdo this anymore. So please don't ask me to."
I closed my mouth, swallowing. What was I supposed to say to that?
Ironically enough, she did want to move on, but it wasn't the kind of moving on I'd been wanting.
My heart cracked in my chest, but if she didn't want to be with me anymore, I wouldn't force her. She'd made it clear she was done.
She and Olivia walked around me and headed out the doors.
Turning, I watched Scarlet walk away, her sparkly dress glistening in the streetlamps with the sway of her hips. Watching her walk away was one of the hardest things I'd ever done. I wanted nothing more than to follow her, to pull her into my arms and tell her how much I cared about her, how much I wanted to be together.
Instead, I kept watching her until she disappeared in the night.
