She lowered her gaze to her hands, her heartbeat quickening. “But…”
“But what?” Austin asked patiently. “Really, there’s only one question: Are you just scared, or do you truly believe it can’t work?”
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Because they were too…
“So, scared it is,” Fox concluded. “Well, that’s a stupid reason that I won’t accept.”
“I agree,” Moreau muttered, nodding to his teammate. “If you want to be with Clark – which I truly don’t understand, but to each their own – and your only reason for not doing it is being afraid, then that’s a shitty excuse, Hazel.”
Her shoulders stiffened. She’d taught them both too much. When she’d first met them, they’d been emotionally illiterate! She opened her mouth again. Her fear wanted to contradict them, but the rest of her body…
Her phone vibrated, and she automatically pulled it from her pocket. Penny was calling. Why…?
“Hello?” she answered warily.
“Hey. This is Cian. Sorry, I didn’t have your number, so I used Penny’s phone, but I thought you might be interested to know that your boyfriend is in jail.”
Her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. “My boyfr... Gareth is in jail?”
“You’re quick to catch on. And yep, he whaled on Kosianos.”
“Again?”
“He just doesn’t learn from his mistakes. Why else would he let you break his heart a second time?”
Her stomach rumbled. “I didn’t…”
“The guy’s in a holding cell, Hazel!” Cian said incredulously. “The guy who is so controlled that even I’m sometimes unsure if he’s proof that artificial intelligence is already being used for human experimentation has beaten a respected lawyer and now has a lawsuit on his hands. Or do you think he’s on a rampage because someone ate his last Milky Way? It’s worse than it was back then!”
Her face warmed, and the phone almost slipped from her damp fingers. “It wasn’t so bad back then.”
“Oh, Hazel…”
“What? It barely affected him back then. He says he was a wreck, but…Cian, he wasokay!”
“He’ll never be allowed to use that word again, will he?”
“Well, it left a lasting impression.”
“Come on, Hazel.” He lowered his voice. “Obviously, he pretended it was okay!”
“Why?Why couldn’t he just say he loved me and hated the idea of breaking up?”
Incredulous, Cian laughed. “Because he’s Gareth! You know him better than I do, Hazel. You of all people should know that displaying big emotions isn’t his thing. It was your choice…and he wasn’t going to influence it by begging you to give him another chance. He doesn’t persuade people to like him. He doesn’t convince them. They either do or they don’t.”
Her heart sank in her chest.
I don’t want to persuade you, Hazel. I meant what I said: I’m tired of fighting for someone’s love and having to prove who I am and what I feel. You either want me or you don’t.
She closed her eyes.
She wasn’t the only one who was scared. She’d made the same mistake most people did. Gareth always seemed so confident, so she'd automatically assumed he wasn’t insecure in any area. But that wasn’t true. He didn’t want to have to prove his feelings — but maybe he needed someone to prove their feelings tohim. To ease his doubts about if he was good enough.
“Shit,” she whispered. “I think I screwed up, Cian. It’s just…I waited for months back then for him to change his mind. For him to find someone better suited.”
Cian snorted. “I don’t know anyone better suited than you. And if you still doubt his feelings: He’s sitting in a fucking holding cell because of you!”
She shrugged. “I didn’t tell him to hit Kosianos!”
