It stuck with me for the rest of the day.
By the time I made it to my training session with Max, my anger hadn’t lessened.
“Just a heads up,” I snapped, “your soon-to-be fiancée knowsIknow about her birthday gift and her bullshit stance on consent.”
He narrowed his eyes on my face, his expression quickly working through emotions before landing on one I expected.
Rage.
“You just can’t let it go, can you?” He practically spat out the words. “You’re hellbent on dragging that shit up. Shit you know nothing about. And not caring in the slightest the hurt you cause because you need answers.”
My eyes widened. “Are you defending her to me right now?”
He scoffed and turned away from me.
My body shook with the urge to fight with him, but Max’s exasperation drained the last of my hope. Having spent most of the afternoon thinking about her reaction, I only saw two possible conclusions.
If Max really did choose her, then what I’d thrown in her face was a painful reminder of his past. Or my attempt to rub it in her face that while he used me, it had been my job.
Her reaction fit that of a woman scorned.
But I couldn’t explain why she’d done that if she and Max weren’t secretly hiding their love and plans to run away with each other.
Why would it have affected her so much?
Either way, by lashing out at Vivian instead of just walking away, I’d failed in more ways than one.
I’d promised Landon and Kingston I’d be safe and strategic, and another dramatic session fighting with one of the girls didn’t feel like either.
Plus, by letting her breakdown distract me throughout the whole day, I’d barely focused on my limited training sessions or made progress on my clues.
I was sick of it, repeatedly getting nowhere—actuallylosingground—all because I’d believed Max and I had been building a solid foundation.
But hating how things were didn’t change them, and fighting only made it worse.
So, I had to change my approach.
I released a heavy sigh, my shoulders sagging as I let go of my anger. “Max, I don’t want to fight with you.”
He scoffed again. “Bullshit.”
I snapped my head in his direction.
“No. Not bullshit. I shouldn’t have come in here like that and said what I did. I shouldn’t have said anything to Vivian at all. And you’re right, I should let it go. Especially since you’ve made it perfectly clear,we’re over.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched, and his eyes narrowed further. He stared at me for so long, I finally had to look away. I dug into my bag while he stewed silently.
“You’ve told me to let it go. That this is what you want, and I need to accept it.” I pulled my sweatpants out of the bag, twisting them in my hands. “I do accept it, so…like you said, let’s just get this over with, okay? Don’t say anything else if you’re just going to be cruel, and I won’t make your job difficult anymore.”
I looked up, staring at him for as long as I could while he worked through whatever he wanted to say. But when his expression hardened, I couldn’t stand it any longer.
“I’m sorry, alright? See?”
I tugged my sweatpants over my leggings. My hoodie stayed firmly in place over my risqué sports bra.
“I’ll do whatever you want, Max, just don’t leave. Teach me what I’m supposed to learn from you.”
Before he ordered me to do it, I walked over to the table he’d set up and took my seat. Keeping my head down, I stared at my shaking hands and waited for him to leave again.
