I tug Jax back again, pressing my palms to his cheeks. “I love that you want to stand up for me, but I need to fight this battle on my own. I’m ready to stand up to him and let that pain go, just like you did with your dad. Will you allow me to do that?”
Jax laces his fingers in mine. “Yes, but I’m going to be right by your side while you do it.”
“Thank you,” I whisper. As I turn back to Austin, Inotice all the nosey Roots residents who have fallen silent around us, congregating to watch the show. “Let’s talk outside.”
Austin stares at me, his eyes glistening. He sways a little before finally saying, “There’s nothing to talk about. You never deserved me. I was always too good for you.”
I feel Jax’s body go rigid as he physically restrains himself from knocking Austin out cold. His restraint only lasts a few seconds because after a beat, he grabs Austin by the collar of his T-shirt and drags him outside.
“She said she wants to talk,” Jax grits out.
I hate to admit it, but it’s really satisfying to watch Austin get dragged out like that, especially after he tried to tell me he’s too good for me.Tell me, Austin, are you still feeling too good?
The second the crisp winter air hits me, I begin rambling, desperate to get this over with before I overthink it or lose my nerve. “You don’t get a say in who I’m in a relationship with, Austin. You’rethe one who cheated. You don’t get to care about what happens after you chose to ruin our relationship.”
I take a few steps closer to him as my anger builds. “I spent years of my life thinking I wasn’t enough. You trained me to believe my feelings were invalid, that I was weak because I couldn’t carry the weight of the world on my shoulders.” I take another step forward, poking him in the chest. “You conditioned me to think it was selfish to want things for myself and that I shouldn’t even bother asking for them. I’ll admit, I was weak back then, but it was only because I put up with your crap.”
Austin draws back as if I’ve hit him. I’m sure it’s weird to see me stand up for myself after I failed to do it time and time again in our relationship. It feels a little foreign to metoo, but the pride in my chest as I tell Austin off after all this time is addictive.
I step forward again, covering the distance he just put between us. “I’ve always cowered when you put me down, but I’m not that girl anymore. You cheating on me was the best thing that ever happened to me. It helped me learn how Idon’twant to be treated.”
He drops his gaze from me, not meeting my eyes, but it doesn’t matter. I’m on a roll. “Now I know how to go after what I want and how to ask for help without being apologetic. Me standing in front of you right now, telling you off with Jax by my side, is in big part because of you. So, thank you for finally setting me free because I’ve never been happier.”
It finally hits me how close I am to Austin, so I take several steps back. Austin looks like a scorned child as he stands there, watching me.
I hold a finger up in the air. “Oh, and one more thing. You don’t get to talk to me like this anymore. You don’t get to call me or text me or show up out of the blue. You don’t have any claim over me, and you never did. Sopleaseleave me alone.”
I swivel on my heel to head back inside, leaving a gaping Austin behind.
Jax follows, lacing his fingers with mine again. He leans into my ear, whispering, “That’s my girl.”
When I glance over my shoulder, Austin is already gone, and Jax says, “Do you realize you just checked the last item off your list?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You just did something for yourself and no one else. Telling off Austin was for you, not for me, anddefinitely not for him. You did it the way you wanted to becauseyouneeded it.”
The pride on his face slowly morphs into humor, and he snickers.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I’m picturing Austin’s face when you told him off.” He doubles over as he keeps laughing, gasping for air before adding, “And leave it to you to then ask him topleaseleave you alone.”
I join him in his laughter. “Hey, I’ve grown a lot over the last few months, but I haven’t forgotten who I am.”
“I love that about you.”
“I loveeverythingabout you.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “Thank you for sticking by me through it all.”
“I’d rather stand in the rain with you than enjoy the sunshine with anyone else, Freckles.”
Epilogue
Nine Months Later
Lauren
“Lauren,get off your phone. Let’s go,” Callie shouts from my front door.
