Page 70 of Revenge Puck

“I want to see you,” he says, making my breath catch. “I hate knowing you’re in my town, but not where I can find you.”

“I’m sorry, I just, I don’t feel like pretending in public to piss off Christian tonight.”

“That’s why you think I want to see you? To piss him off?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Elle, tell me what hotel you’re staying at or come to my place. I won’t let anyone see us together, okay?”

“That’s impossible.”

“No, it’s not. I live outside the city with only a few neighbors.”

“It’s late and I don’t have a car.”

“Now you’re just being stubborn.”

“Goodnight, Preston.”

“Elle, wait!” he says, but my finger presses the button to end the call.

I have to get out of this fake relationship fast before I do any real, permanent damage to my heart when it hasn’t even had a chance to heal from the last break.

23

Preston

“What the fuck did you say to Elle?” I ask Maya as soon as I walk into the house and drop my duffle with a loud thud.

“Excuse me?” she asks from her seat on the sofa. Her eyes narrow at me when I move to tower over her. “I know you took a big loss tonight, but I don’t appreciate your tone or use of the f-bomb. You better be glad Finley’s gone to bed.”

I replay the words that just came out of my mouth and…yeah, I would knock out anyone who said that shit to my sister, especially in front of my nephew.

“Sorry, I’m just…I don’t know where Elle is staying, and she won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“Oh wow. You really do care about her,” she remarks while crossing her legs underneath her.

“Of course I care about her! It’s why I hate whatever this shit is that’s coming between us.”

“Well, I think I may have an idea about why she left the game now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sit.” She nods to the nearby chair, so I grumble a swear and fold myself into it. “Could it be that Elle was hoping that you were going along with pretending to date her for her sake and not just for your own revenge?”

“How do you…how did you know we were pretending?”

“Because you would do anything to mess with Christian, including stealing his girl or pretending to steal his girl, and bragging about having a bigger stick.”

“Yeah, well, everyone else thought it was real.”

Nodding, she says, “Right. They did. What if Elle was starting to think it was real, too?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Preston. She likes you, and not just in the let’s-just-screw-over-Christian-together way.”

Shrugging, I huff, “Good. I like her too.”

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