Page 40 of Unofficial

"No, you don't get to do this. You didn't get to come around and want me simply because I found someone else to spend time with. Someone who wants to give me everything I wanted with you but you couldn't give me. I won't give you the power to ruin something that has the potential to be something great."

His hand takes hers, and she stares at it in shock instead of yanking it away like she knows she should. The feeling of his skin touching her drives her wild, and she hates what he can still do to her.

"Potential?" Kade asks.

"He wants what I want, Kade. He wants to give me what you didn't want to."

"And what if I said I wanted to give you what you want now?"

Tearing her hand from his, she shakes her head, anger filling her. "How dare you?"

"What?"

"If you do want what I want now, it's only because I found someone else to have it with."

"That's not true-"

"You said you aren't the commitment type of guy. I walked in on you screwing Lena on your kitchen counter after you lied to be with her. I think you telling me you can't commit after seeing that is the true version of who you are."

"I miss you," he says.

Laughing, Jess turns and walks back towards the office. "You miss things about me, but you don't miss me. I was wifey material on an extended one-night stand salary. This is about what you got from me, not about me."

"How do you know?" he asks, running to catch up to her.

"Because you haven't reached out since I gave you back your things," she says, picking up her pace and hoping he has to go. To work. To the dentist. To hell. She really doesn’t care, but she needs to get away from him.

As she quickens her steps, she regrets not putting on more sensible shoes, but she hadn't expected to damn near sprint back to the office. She thought the last thing she expected today was seeing three missed calls from Kade, but it turns out, seeing him outside her office was the actual last thing she thought would happen today. Or in this lifetime. Kade Finely waiting for her never even crossed her mind because he never seemed like a stalker. Until today.

"I had a few things I needed to figure out, Jess. About myself. And it wasn't fair to try and get back into your life while I was doing that."

"You got your entire life figured out in three months?"

His head tilts side to side. "Okay, maybe not my entire life, but the big parts. The parts that kept me from being able to be with only one person."

Stopping outside the building, she plants her hands on her hips. "No."

"No?"

"I don't believe you."

"Give me a chance to prove it."

Jess laughs. "I'm seeing someone."

"And I hate him."

"What I do and who I do it with are no longer your business or your concern. And I don't care what you think of him. You don't get a say, and you don't get an opinion. Not after you opted out of being with only me."

"What if I want a say and an opinion?"

She sighs. "What is it you think you want? Because I'm moving on with someone who wants to give me everything I gave you. So, tell me, what's this great epiphany you've had? Huh?"

"I want a second chance."

"At what?" she cries and shakes her head. "I have no desire to be just another number. That's all I was to you, and I have no intention of repeating that game. I lost last time, remember?"

"No, Jess, no. That's not what I want. I want us. I want to give this a real shot."

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