Itispersonal to me. But I don’t say it. My eyes are stinging, and my throat feels like it has a lump lodged in it. I try to clear it, blinking my eyes a few times. I pull in a breath, trying to steady myself.
“You know what? You’re right. I don’t know you at all. I don’t even know your real name. How is this mind-bond thing going to work? Are we tied together now?” I really hope we aren’t, because I want to be done with Grim. Done with the lies and betrayal. I need to move on.
“No, it’s all good.” He shakes his head. “We’re not tied together.”
“Are you lying again?” I ask, my eyes narrowing.
“No,” he pushes out.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!” he growls. “Can you drop it already? I’m not a liar when it comes to…” He stops talking.
“Things that don’t really matter,” I fill in for him. “But when they do matter, it’s a whole other story, so you’ll excuse me if I have a hard time believing you.”
“Stop putting words in my mouth, Wren. I’m sorry. I understand why you’re upset about this. I hope that you will be able to forgive me, that we can be…friends again someday.”
I snort. “That ship has sailed. There’s no going back from this. I don’t want this mind-bond with you, Grim. I want to move on. I guess we’ll have to find new jobs.” I shrug, trying to seem casual, even though I’m hurting right now. “But I don’t want you to be more broken than you already are. I don’t want to be responsible for that.”
“You’re not responsible for me. I’mnotbroken. I’ll be just fine. We only mentally connected once. I’ll get past that easily.” He shrugs, looking like he’s already over the bond…over us. Like there never was an us. And I suppose he’s right.
I can move on, too, especially since Grim is nothing like the male I thought he was. I’m in love with someone who doesn’t exist.
“Good luck with everything, Wren. I hope all your dreams come true. I really hope that, in time, you’ll forgive me. I never meant to hurt you.”
“I’m fine.” I laugh, and it actually sounds genuine. Convincing. “As you said, it was just sex and nothing more. All the best, Grim. I hope you figure it all out, because you’re right; you’re lost. I feel sorry for you.”
He snorts. “Well, you can stop. I’m fine.”
“Whatever,” I mutter.
“I’ll see you around,” he tells me.
I don’t say anything because I don’t plan on seeing him again. I hate how affected I am when he doesn’t look like he’s feeling much of anything.
“I will—” Grim starts to say, but Drake sticks his head out of Vulcan’s office.
“Hope I’m not interrupting,” he says, looking between us.
“Not at all.” Grim smiles at him.
“The cars are here,” he says.
“Thanks for everything, Drake,” Grim says. “We can talk tomorrow?”
“Absolutely,” Drake says. He starts to say something else, but his cellphone rings again. He looks at the screen and rolls his eyes. “I’ve got to take this. Bye,” Drake tells us. “We’ll be in touch.” He looks from Grim to me and back.
“Bye, Drake,” I tell him. “Thanks for everything.”
Then I turn and walk away. My vision blurs, but I blink rapidly, refusing to let the tears fall.
Grim doesn’t call out to me. He doesn’t try to catch up. He doesn’t do anything. I’m sure if I looked back, he wouldn’t even be watching me go.
It hurts, but it’s for the best.
46
Wren
