“What? What do you mean you’re not coming? And why is it so loud there? Where are you?”
“I’m at the airport.”
“Airport? Where the fuck are you going?” he snaps, his tone spiked with casual arrogance that makes my skin prickle.
“San Francisco,” I breathe out, my fingers tight around the phone. “Logan Hayes’ wedding.”
Silence rings between us, stretching so long it prompts me to check he’s still on the line. “Are—”
“You’re fucking Cody, aren’t you?”
I expected anger. Screaming. Insults... I didn’t expect him to sound amused.
Taken aback, my palms turn clammy. “We’re seeing each other,” I confirm quietly, falling silent when his low, dark laughter pierces my ear. “What’s so funny?”
“I always knew you were stupid, but you never struck me as naïve, Blair.” He laughs again, the sound grating. “Do you really think he’ll stick around? That you’re more than a temporary hole to indulge in?”
“Cody’s not like that. He cares about me, and I’m not—”
“He’s not like what? Like any other man keen to fuck easy pussy? You’re not Cinderella, Blair, and this isn’t a fairy tale. Don’t be childish.”
“He cares about me,” I utter, pinching the strap of my purse between my fingers. “He’s taking me to the wedding so I can meet his brothers. How do you explain that?”
“The reason doesn’t matter,” he says with conviction. “It’s the outcome that will crush you. Cody won’t stick around. Family is sacred to the Hayes, and you tormented Nico’s fiancée for years. You’re a vile human being, and Cody will drop you once the novelty wears off. Probably sooner than you think.”
I swallow hard, swatting my tears away. Dad’s wrong. Cody wouldn’t take me to the wedding if he wasn’t serious about us.
“You don’t know me,” I say, my voice quivering at the edges.
“No one knows you like I do. I fuckingmadeyou. Face it, Blair. The moment Nico snaps is the moment you and Cody are done. You’ll be flying back home in tears before midnight.” A bang at his end startles me so much I jump. I think he slapped his mahogany desk. “Do you really think he’ll choose you over his family? No one would choose you.”
First tears roll down my cheek, and more follow, Dad’s words hitting my insecurities with laser precision. “I’m different now,” I whisper. “I’m not a bad person. I’ve changed, Dad. I—”
“Changed?” he snorts, his voice dripping with disdain. “A leopard doesn’t change its spots. You’re still the same little girl, desperate for attention. Desperate to be seen, and you’ll do everything to be seen. You’re doing it right now, fucking around with a Hayes of all the men available in this town. I specifically asked you not to get involved with anyone. You hadonejob, and you couldn’t even do that. You’re problematic, Blair. You’re a liability, and you’re delusional if you think Cody won’t see it.”
Every word he speaks, laced with cruel certainty, claws my fragile defenses, shattering the cocoon of happiness that Cody’s woven around me.
“He loves me,” I stutter, covering my eyes with my hand. “He said so.”
“Did he now? And since no one’s allowed to lie about that, it must be true,” Dad laughs, sarcasm dripping from his tone. “I love you, Blair.”
A cold shiver slithers down my spine. “No, you don’t.”
“No, I don’t,” he agrees, cold and ruthless. “And yet I said it. Cody says he loves you and he can do whatever the fuck he pleases. You live across the hall! It’s convenient. Wake up and smell the roses. Will you really throw away the future you spent your whole life working for? Be real, Blair. Look in the mirror. Admit that you’re not worth the trouble you’ll cause when you show up at Logan’s wedding.”
I hate him with everything in me. I hate his tone, the toxic, brutal symphony of accusations he spews, and I hate that he’s right.
I don’t deserve Cody. I never did, and I never will.
I scoff at my own stupidity. How did I let myself believe I could make him happy? How is forcing him to risk his family supposed to achieve that?
He’d be crushed if he had to give them up. It’s so obvious in the way his eyes light up when he talks about them, how great he is with his nephews, how much he loves Mia...
He won’t give them up. Not for someone like me.
Cody deserves more. Someone who’s not haunted by the past. He deserves everything, and I can barely offeranything. All I have is a truckload of baggage and a trail of bad decisions. The future I can promise isn’t easy or colorful.
It’s a heartache waiting to happen.
