I take a step forward in an attempt to see what he was looking at.
“Brooke.”
Instantly, I know what he’s seen. I don’t even have to read the text to understand what’s happened.
“What…what do you?—”
“Don’t play dumb, Kali.”
My stomach drops. “I’m?—”
“I knew better,” he stops me, his voice tight. “I knew I shouldn’t trust you. Reporters. You’re all the same.”
The words hit like a slap. “That’s not fair, Cash. You don’t know?—”
“I know enough,” he snaps. “You came here for a story, and you got it, didn’t you?” He looks down at the phone and reads Brooke’s text aloud.
“See? I told you! Give him what he wants, and he’ll give you whatyouwant.” He looks up at me. “Winky face.” His lips twist into a sneer, and he keeps reading. “It works every time. Can’t wait to read the dirt.”
I want to melt into the floorboards. Earlier, I’d responded to Brooke’s incessant texts, but I didn’t tell her anything about Cash and me. I certainly didn’t tell her that we’d slept together. All I’d said was that I was getting the story.
“That’s not what it?—”
“Looks like?” He tosses the phone onto the bed behind him, and when his eyes meet mine, all the affection and desire that had just been there have vanished. “I don’t know, Kali. Because it looks to me like you’re fucking the cowboy to get thedirt.” He uses air quotes. “Screwing the source sure makes for one hell of a headline, doesn’t it?”
I flinch at his harsh words. His voice is breaking something deep inside me. “Stop, Cash,” I plead. “Please. That’s not what this is.”
He laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “I think that’s exactly what it is. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to fall for it.”
Tears sting my eyes. “It was real. You.You’rereal, Cash. I?—”
“Don’t.” He steps back, shaking his head, and grabs his shirt off the back of the couch. “Don’t stand there and lie to me.”
“I’m not lying!” My voice cracks. I hate the sound of it. “It’s not what it looks like. You have to believe me.”
“I don’t.”
The silence that follows is louder than any shout could be.
He slides his arms into his shirt. “Pack your things. I want you gone by morning.”
“Cash. Please,” I whisper. “I just?—”
“Don’t make this harder than it already is, Kali. You got your story. Leave.”
My throat burns, but I nod because it’s the only thing I can do. He opens the door, pauses just long enough to look back at me, and for a flash, I think I see the man I know. The one I’m falling madly in love with.
But then he’s gone.
The door slams shut. I’m alone.
I sink onto the couch and let the tears fall.
Chapter 8
Two Months Later…
Cash
