“Dylan…” Her voice tightened. “I’m not the one who needs you. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“Oh, right.” His tone flipped, sharp with bitterness. “You don’t want me. I’m only good for a nice hard screw every now and then. My mistake. I’ve never been good enough for you, have I?”
My jaw locked. The idea of him touching her, of her ever letting him close like that, set something hot and ugly loose in my chest. Jealousy wasn’t my usual vice, yet it slammed into me without warning.
“If you felt used…” She sighed. “Well, maybe you were. It wasn’t intentional, but yeah. I probably was using you in those moments. I’m sorry.”
That stopped me cold.
Jamie was tough, resilient in ways that had impressed me from the start. But somewhere along the way, I’d started treating her like she needed protecting. Like she was fragile. Hearing her now, owning her choices without backpedaling or excuses, forced me to confront something uncomfortable.
I hadn’t been seeing her as helpless because she was weak. I’d been treating her that way because I wanted her to need me.
That should’ve eased something in me, but it didn’t. Because if I was honest, I wanted what Dylan wanted. Not just her body but her trust. Her reliance. I wanted to be the one she turned to when things got hard.
“There was a time I wanted more from you,” she continued. “You know that. But I don’t feel that way anymore.”
“I know. It’s been a long time since there was anything real between us. I get that. I just thought…maybe you’d change your mind.”
“I won’t,” she said. No hesitation. “I just want you to do the right thing.”
He sighed. “I don’t know how you expect me to do the right thing when you live so far away. I still have a life, Jamie. But I have put thought into it—I just wanted to make the whole thing work, with you too.”
Do the right thing? Make the whole thing work? What the hell did that mean?
“I really wasn’t prepared for you to have a new guy. He does seem good at taking care of you, though.”
“Yeah. Eric is good at that. He’s done a lot for me.” She hesitated, then added, softer, “He doesn’t even realize how much. He’s kind of amazing, actually.”
Unearned pride surged through me, settling somewhere deep in my chest. She meant it. I could hear it in her voice.
Dylan huffed. “Yeah, I get it. Doesn’t mean I’m giving up, though.”
“Dylan…”
“Relax. I’m not pushing. But what about Hunter?”
Hunter. My grip tightened around the glass. Was he the other man? The one she’d been missing?
“What about Hunter?” Jamie shot back.
“Does he know what’s going on here? You didn’t bring him.”
“No. I didn’t want him here. I didn’t know what to expect.” Her tone turned protective. Whoever Hunter was, she was shielding him from this mess. “I guess I expected a different kind of fight.”
Dylan chuckled. “Things change, Princess. People change.”
I’d had enough.
No more standing in the shadows, piecing together her life while he poked at old wounds like he still had the right.
Water in hand, I stepped back into the room and took in the scene.
She’d edged as far back into the couch as she could, arms crossed tight over her chest. Dylan sat on the edge of the coffee table, leaning into her space like he had every right to be there.
They weren’t touching, but Dylan could’ve changed that with the shift of a wrist.
And that pissed me off a hell of a lot more than it should have.
