Page 65 of High Stakes

Once she’s gone, Aiden closes the gap between us, so I’m trapped between the sink unit and his hard body. “You won’t even look at me,” he mutters.

“What the hell do you think you’re playing at?” I hiss.

“I just need a minute of your time, Bells.”

“Isabella,” I correct him. “Only my friends call me Bells.”

He clenches his jaw, and I know he wants to yell at me for being so stubborn. “Just hear me out,” he pleads.

“So, talk, Aiden. You’ve gone to all this trouble to force me to listen,” I yell.

“I messed up,” he begins, and I scoff, folding my arms. “And you have every right to hate me.”

“I do,” I cut in.

“But, please, try and understand why I did it. I know you saw Jake’s letter, it was open.” I stay quiet, not confirming nor denying my snooping. “He thought we’d fall madly in love and live happily ever after.”

“It wasn’t up to him to try and make thathappen,” I snap.

“But he saw you needed someone and wanted me to settle down. He grabbed the opportunity.”

“I didn’t need anyone,” I yell. “Least of all, a lying, cheating playboy like you.” I take a deep breath to calm myself. “Look, you’ve said your piece, and honestly, it doesn’t make me feel any better. Your brother played a game with my heart. I can’t forgive either of you.”

“Bella, please!”

“What do you want me to say, that I forgive you?” I ask, “Would that make you sleep better and ease your conscience?”

He stares down at the ground. “No, probably not. But I want us to be able to be in the same room and be civil. Aria won’t see JP, even though we both know she wants to. Everything is a mess, and I just want it to be okay,” he says, desperately.

“Are you trying to make me feel bad?” I snap. “JP wasn’t innocent in any of this and that’s why Aria won’t speak to him. I can’t control what she chooses to do.”

He rubs his hand over his brow, stress evident in his expression. “Why did you go through with it?” he asks, looking me in the eye. “Once you knew, why did you let it go ahead?”

This time it’s me that looks away. “I keep asking myself the same thing,” I mutter bitterly. “I thought my virginitymeant nothing to me, so I let you have it to save yourself. A part of me was hoping you’d confess, but the more time that passed, the quicker I realized that wasn’t going to happen. You’d gone to all that trouble to strip me of my virginity, and if I stopped you, you’d have lost everything. Then it would have all been for nothing,” I mutter. Sadness fills my heart. “That’s how pathetic I am,” I add, raising my eyes to meet his. “Still thinking of you, even at a cost to myself.”

“You’re not pathetic,” he rushes to tell me. “You’re kind and thoughtful and I didn’t see that until it was too late. Tell me how to make it right.”

“If you think you can make it right, you really don’t understand how much you hurt me, Aiden.”

“Then show me. Scream, lash out, do whatever you want to make it feel better.”

I scoff, “I’m not like you, Aiden. I won’t willingly hurt someone I care about.” I shake my head, “Cared about,” I correct.

“So this is it? This is how it ends?”

I head for the door. “It ended the night you broke my heart, Aiden. Goodbye.”

Aiden

“You look happier,” JP notes as I take a seat at our table.

“I saw Bella,” I tell them.

Raff groans. “But you didn’t go over to her, right?” I shake my head, and he relaxes.

“I followed her into the bathroom and forced her to speak to me.”

He glares at me, “Tell me you’re joking. Jesus, leave the woman alone, you’ve already done too much.”

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