Page 70 of The Publicity Stunt

"Were you going to propose to me?" she asks and looks back up at him.

"Does it matter?”

"It does to me."

Looking at the wall, he twitches his nose. "Yeah, I was. I planned to surprise you with the VIP tickets I bought for the opening night of Bri's tour, and I was going to propose when she sang Two Lovers. All the stars aligned because she didn't play the song after the shit Easton pulled on her, so I wouldn't have been able to do it the way I wanted anyway."

"I only hooked up with Rudy because I was hurt about you hooking up with Amanda."

Rolling his eyes, he looks away. "That's bullshit. And I still can't figure out why neither of you bothered to ask me instead of being the shadiest fucking people I've ever met in my life."

"Kace-"

"I never have, and I never will, cheat on a woman I'm committed to. You should have known me well enough to at least talk to me before hopping in Rudy's bed and riding his cock out of retaliation."

"You're right," she says, flinching at his crass words.

Rudy walks up and stops short when he sees the two of them talking. "Hey, guys."

"Rudy," she says and gives him a small smile.

Kace looks at Rudy and then Sasha before laughing. "Let me guess... you two aren't together anymore?"

"No," Rudy says. "I realized how wrong it was, especially as everything came to light. We should have talked to you instead of doing what we did."

"No, shit," Kace says.

Sasha looks at Rudy, and Kace sees the longing there. Wait, did she fall in love with Rudy?

"I'm gonna change for warm-ups," Rudy says and walks into the locker room.

"Sucks, doesn't it?"

"What's that?" Sasha asks, her eyes moving from the closed door.

Sighing, Kace shakes his head. "Realizing you were just a pawn in his game. You were the pawn he used to hurt me, and when it didn't hurt anymore, he discarded you like last night's leftovers."

"You really wanted to marry me?"

"At the time, I thought I did."

"Do you think we could ever give this another try?"

His eyes widen. "Do you think I'm stupid or blind? Or maybe you think I'm both."

"I don't think you're either."

"You didn't love me, Sasha. You loved what I could give you, but you were never in the relationship for me. And I made excuses and thought I was so in love that I convinced myself I wanted to marry you. But we don't work."

Nodding, she looks at the ground. He'd expected some type of argument, but even she knows the only time they ever truly got along was in bed. Even then, he knows it's lacking in comparison to what he had with Bri.

"Don't think I didn't catch the little look you gave him. You may not have loved me, but I can see you love Rudy."

"He doesn't want me anymore. His friendship with you means more to him than I do."

"That's a stupid reason because I couldn't give two shits if you two decide to be together. He and I will never be friends after what he did to Bri."

"Did you love her?"

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