He needed to know that what he broke couldn’t be paid for.
“Y-you ruined—” I tapped my chest once, clutching the fabric of my shirt. “D-don’t fix… with wallet.”
His jaw flexed, chest rising and falling unevenly. Alex glanced at him, waiting for whatever explosion was coming.
But it didn’t come.
Joshua exhaled once, long and low, then finally spoke, voice rough, low enough that I almost didn’t catch it.
“Mine after class.”
I blinked.What?
He looked right at me, eyes cold but steady. “Let’s find you another job.”
Find me another job?
After everything?
I wanted to scoff.
But he wasn’t mocking me. Not this time.
His expression wasn’t pity or arrogance; it was… guilt. The real kind. The kind that doesn’t know what to do except try.
Still, I couldn’t trust it. Not yet.
So I just nodded once, barely and stepped back from the window. He didn’t say anything else, just kept watching as I turned and walked away. But my chest was pounding, my head spinning with his words.
Mine after class. Let’s find you another job.
Part of me wanted to believe him. The other part knew better. Because every time I thought Joshua Lockhart was changing, he’d prove me wrong.
—
When the elevator doors slid open, my stomach did a full somersault.
I still didn’t know why I agreed.
Maybe because part of me needed closure. Or maybe because I didn’t have anything left to lose.
I knocked once.
The door opened almost immediately.
Joshua stood there, dressed down, no jersey, no attitude, just… Joshua. Comfortable in sweats and a plain black shirt, hair pushed back like he’d been running his hands through it too much.
He didn’t say anything, only stepped aside to let me in.
I slipped off my shoes and glanced up. Papers.
Everywhere.
On the table. The counter. Even the floor. Pages printed, circled, scribbled through, highlighted in red and blue, and God knows what else.
I blinked, confused, until he spoke.
“The crossed-out ones are far and full-time.”
