She jolts in surprise, her eyes light up as if this is some kind of pleasant reunion.
“Jase, you look good,” she croons, her blue eyes raking over my body with interest. It makes me sick the way she stares at me like I’m something she wants and thinks she can have.
I can’t believe I ever found this attractive because all I can think now is how badly I want to tell her to get the fuck away from me.
I release my hold on her. “What the hell are you doing here?” I hiss, angrier than I’ve ever been. “This is Monroe’s day. I won’t allow you to ruin this for her.”
She smiles innocently, though it comes off fake and conniving. “I just want to talk,” she purrs, stepping closer, her nauseatingly floral perfume thick in the air. “You don’t answer my calls. You owe me at least a conversation.”
“I don’t owe you anything.” My voice is harsh and cold. “Whatever we had is done. Monroe is my family now. I love her. I’m not looking back.”
Her smile falters, but only for a moment. “You really think this is going to last? She’s not like us, Jase,” she says, reaching for me and tangling her fingers in the collar of my shirt. “She doesn’t belong in our world, and you know it.”
“I know you need to leave,” I shoot back, gripping her wrist tightly. “Right now. Before she sees you.”
Of course she doesn’t. Instead, she steps in fast, closing the gap between us before I can move. I let her go, and her hand creeps up my arm, her voice dropping low. “You used to love me. Don’t pretend you don’t anymore.”
A sharp laugh leaves my chest, almost indignant that she truly believes the lies she’s telling herself. “Is that what you want to hear?” I mock in a sarcastic tone. “You want me to tell you I love you. That I can’t picture a life where you're not by my side. How I’m only killing time with Monroe but you’re the one I want to be with.”
My fists clench in fury as her eyes flick behind me, a smile spreading wider on her face as if she’s seen something—or someone. Though, just as I’m about to turn, her fingers tug on my collar and pull me in for a kiss. It’s brief, nothing more than a press of her lips against mine before I shove her away, my anger blazing hot.
“Don’t,” I growl, raising my hands to keep her away. “Don’t you ever fucking touch me again.”
Her eyes widen, hurt flickering before she masks it with a satisfied expression. “You’ll regret this,” she snarls, atriumphant gleam in her eyes as she spins on her heels and stalks off across the gravel drive.
My muscles coil, jaw tight, and the world blurs as my teeth grind, rage viciously palpitating in my ears. I turn back toward the barn, needing to get the hell away from Indigo and find Monroe, but freeze when I see her standing at the front of the doors. Her beautifully broken face is cast in the sunlight beaming down on her. I shudder when her gaze shifts from my mouth to Indigo’s retreating figure. I feel it in my bones as I watch the exact moment her heart cracks into pieces.
In the next second, Nash appears behind her, looking more furious than I’ve ever seen him, but equally confused by what he thinks he’s witnessed.
“Monroe,” I plead, my voice choking up as I head her way, but she shakes her head violently, backing away, her hand trembling against her belly.
“Don’t,” she says, her voice weak and surrendering as she watches me with such sorrow my entire being wants to collapse before her.
The sound of laughter and music from the barn echoes and washes over me like static noise, driving me mad as I watch the woman I’ve spent months trying to convince I’m hers, run. In one carelessly stolen moment, I’ve shattered it all.
Though I don’t get to run after her because the next thing I know, all I see is Nash’s fist.
Chapter Forty
Monroe
Ican’t breathe. All the air in my lungs has completely depleted, and every breath I try to take feels like fire inside me. A dry, scalding rush of air suffocates me further while tears stream down my face to no avail.
I’ve found myself in this exact position countless times over my lifetime, most of them recently, but this time it really feels like this is it. I’m hyperventilating, my eyes blurring as I run, unable to feel my feet. My lungs are on fire, burning away all the oxygen I breathe and turning into hot ash as it leaves me.
The barn is full of laughter and music, beautifully decorated by my friends and family gathered to celebrate our Little Bear, but all I see is them. Jase and Indigo, tucked off to the side, just far enough to think no one was looking. Her hand curled around his arm, her body leaning into his, as he told her how much he wanted to be with her.
“I love you. That I can’t picture a life where you're not by my side. How I’m only killing time with Monroe but you’re the one I want to be with,” he said, before she met my eye and then she kissed him.
I froze, rooted to the gravel, as if the world had been knocked off its axis. I couldn’t hear what he said as he pushed her away, over the rush of my blood to my ears. For one gut-wrenching second, it didn’t matter what words might follow. I saw enough.
My hands are shaking as I push through the side garden, past the balloons and cake I helped decorate, pretending this day might actually mean something else.
I hear his voice behind me, sharp and panicked. “Monroe, wait!” he shouts, but I don’t stop. Not until his hand closes gently around my arm. “Monroe, baby. Please stop.”
I whirl around, my words coming out like shards. “Don’t touch me.”
His face is wrecked, wild-eyed and desperate. There’s blood dripping on the side of his lip, surely from the punch I saw Nash throw as I ran off. “It’s not what it looked like. She showed up, and I told her to leave. She kissed me, but I shoved her off. I swear to you, Moonshine, I didn’t?—”
