Page 57 of Limbo

“Well, she didn’t. And after seeing what you were like back then, your striptease makes perfect sense.”

Jordan’s words have stung before, but this time, they rip a fucking hole inside me. He sounds like Graham and Lauren and Brock, throwing the past in my face. What tears me open further is he looks at me like they do while saying it, like that is who I will always be to him now.

“Shit,” he says in the same breath. “I’m so sorry, Callie. I didn’t mean that.”

I hold up my hands when he steps toward me. “You see pictures from a few years ago and have it all figured out?”

He tries to apologize again, but my emotional knob has already cranked to pissed off.

“So, if I’m so fucking easy and you still haven’t screwed me, what does that say about you?”

“You know I don’t—” he starts, but I never intend to let him finish.

“I think it says you should go back to banging groupies who are stupid enough to fall for your pathetic bullshit.”

His eyes shut for a second, a nerve hit. The muscles of his jaw work beneath the skin. “Is that out of your system now?” he bites back.

I glare and retaliate without a second thought. “I don’t know. Are you finished disappointing everyone now?”

The moment it leaves my mouth, I wish for nothing more than to take it back. But I can’t. The words cut that time, his eyes showing the hurt.

“How do you expect me to respond to that, Callie?”

I want him to yell. To scream or throw something. Anything that punishes me for using what he told me about his parents against him. Except not even a hint of anger registers in his tone or on his face. He just patiently waits for my answer, only convincing me more of the right one.

I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, needing a physical distraction from what I’m about to do. “Walk away.”

“You want me to walk away?”

We stare at each other until I manage to nod.

He puts his hands on the back of his head while he takes a deep breath. “If I walk away, I’m done. I’m not chasing you anymore.”

“I never wanted you to,” I say, my voice barely carrying the few feet between us. “I told you from the beginning that I wasn’t worth wasting your time.”

His gaze softens into the one I can melt into. The one I can live in. Breathe in.

“You were worth everything.”

I have to look away. If anything, the last few minutes have proven the opposite. That he’s much better off away from me and my life. I step around him to open the door. My eyes close as he passes me, taking the last of the real air with him on his way out. By the time the suite door slams, all the heaviness I’ve been staving off invades my chest, settling in that newly torn open space.

Felicia rushes in, stopping short when she sees me. “Are you okay?”

I frantically wipe away the hot tears streaming down my face, everything more wrong than I thought possible. “I’m fine.” Then I smile the smile I can summon even as the world burns around me. And right now … it is.

Despite being a Monday, a party rages on around us. In game one of the beer pong tournament, Felicia loses all hand-eye coordination. She couldn’t hit a cup if it meant her soul mate would pop out like a freaking genie. Becca needs a miracle to help them win against Parker and Devon. Or as the sign-up sheet calls them, “Long Dong and Longer.”

Felicia finally sinks a ball, and Becca arches a brow in my direction. Scratch the miracle comment. She needs my tits. Before we left, she made me change, claiming my breasts as her secret weapon for the night. Two hours later, I have yet to determine whether to take offense or accept the flattery. Either way, I tug down the already-low-cut V-neck to expose my red lace bra.

Target acquired, Parker watches me and loses focus on the cup he just lifted off the table. He pauses with it halfway to his mouth, his eyes following the finger tracing down my neckline. Too easy. The distraction grants Becca all the time she needs. Her ball soars through the air and lands in his cup to win the game.

“Boom.” She points across the table.

Devon slaps the beer out of Parker’s hand. “Dude, you have got to be kidding me.”

Parker scowls at me, but honestly, he should know better than to ogle a girl in the middle of a game. Especially one who hasn’t given him the time of day since walking through the door.

He and his bruised ego stroll over, his head shaking. “I knew you would get me in trouble.”

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