The admission of the pain Paige had inflicted made everything easier. There was only one way to make this feeling stop. ‘Oliver didn’t leave because of you. He left because of me.’
Declan gave a humourless laugh. ‘No offence, Paige, but you don’t know what you’re on about.’
She shook her head forcefully. ‘I put Oliver in an impossible position, and he had to leave; he couldn’t do it any more. Because of me.’
Declan’s eyes flashed with emotion for a second, and she thought she could see some understanding, or anger, there. ‘What did you do?’ he demanded.
‘I—’ She cleared her throat. ‘I knew about you two.’
Realisation dawned on Declan’s face, and then unmistakable anger. ‘What did youdo?’ His voice was tight and low.
She swallowed. ‘I wanted him to go public with your relationship, to be honest about his feelings for you. But he wouldn’t do it.’
‘It wasn’t a relationship,’ Declan bit out. ‘There was nothing to tell. Isn’t that what he said?’
She closed her eyes, unable to look at him. ‘No. That’s not what he said.’ She didn’t know how to make him understand what had happened when she hardly understood it herself. It had all got out of control so quickly. ‘He called my bluff – he knew I couldn’t do anything without his participation. Without the two of you being together, the happy ending that would justify everything else. Otherwise it would look like the show had outed you both for publicity.’
She opened her eyes and immediately regretted it. Declan wore a blank expression, but his posture was tense and his eyes held a cold fury.
‘It wouldlooklike that?’ he spat out. ‘You still can’t own up to it? It didn’tlooklike that, itwaslike that.’
‘I shouldn’t have done it.’ Her voice came out small. ‘I shouldn’t have tried to force his hand. But I didn’t mean for it to all go so wrong, please believe me. I wanted the two of you to be able to be together, and I thought you both wanted that too.’
‘Don’t pretend to care about whatwewanted.’
He stood, not looking at her, and offered no other parting words as he slammed the door behind him. The adrenaline that had been keeping Paige upright dissipated, and she lowered herself into the closest chair.
Darcy found her there hours later.
‘Paige,’ she barked. ‘Where have youbeen? I’ve been looking everywhere.’
‘Here,’ Paige said, not moving.
Darcy crossed her arms, surveying the room. ‘Doing what exactly?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Come on,’ Darcy said, laying a manicured hand on her shoulder. ‘We’ve wrapped; let’s go out and celebrate!’
‘I’m all right,’ Paige said, barely feeling the words come out.
‘Come on,’ Darcy said again. ‘There are some people who I want to introduce you to.’
‘No,’ Paige said, more forcefully. ‘I’m not going.’ She shrugged Darcy’s hand off and stood, heading for the door.
‘Youhaveto go,’ Darcy said, her voice taking on a hard edge. Paige turned to see her standing in the middle of the room – the one Paige had spent nearly all summer trapped in – with barely concealed outrage on her face.
‘No, I don’t,’ she said, ‘because I quit.’ And she walked out the door.
Chapter 25
Oliver
One Week Until Finale
Oliver had expected relief to wash over him as soon as he got to Heathrow, but instead he just felt lost. He had spent nearly two months following strict rules, unable to make decisions for himself, and now he was returning to the mess of his real life. He did the only thing he could think of, and rang his best mate.
Will met him in the same spot of the car park as he had four months ago, when Oliver had returned from New York. When he spotted Oliver, he ran over to wrap him in a hug, clutching him tightly.
