Page 57 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

“I mean, yeah. Why not? We worked so well. We could work well again with a few changes. I think we could make things work.”

“Between here and New York?” I shook my head. “Gabe, I think this is fate.”

“What if we disregard fate? It's not like we have to follow it blindly. We could make our own plans.”

I smiled a little. “It's sweet that you want to patch things up, but I really believe we were supposed to break up.”

“How can you think that?”

“Because of how things happened. That, I think, was fate. You wanted to move and I didn't. That meant we had to go our separate ways.”

He took a shaky breath. “I still think we could have worked it out.”

“I think I like you more as a friend.”

“Ugh, great.”

I laughed. “Why can't we be great friends? We broke up well before we knew Levon was back in town. This had nothing to do with him. We just weren't meant to be together.”

“I guess you're right about that.”

“Of course, I'm right.”

He chuckled. “Does this mean I get to call you out when you're wrong?”

“As a friend? Sure, I don't see why not.”

“I just feel like I had a lot with you and I would have liked to see where that headed.”

I shrugged. “For us, it headed to a dead end. But there's someone out there for everyone. I firmly believe you'll meet someone that is just right for you. Maybe you'll even meet that person in New York. How's that for fate?”

“I can't argue with that. You might be right.”

“As I said, of course, I'm right.”

He laughed. “Stubborn.”

“You know it.”

He stopped near a large tree and wavered underneath the shade of the branches, turning to face me. He took my hand gently.

“It's just hard,” he whispered. “When you've spent so much time with someone and made so many memories together, it's really hard to go separate ways.”

He ran his thumbs over my knuckles.

I smiled weakly. “I understand.”

“You said you didn't have a hard time with it.”

“Well, it was hard for me, too, even if I said it wasn't.”

“Do you think we will ever have a chance in the future?”

“No, Gabe. I don't think we will.”

He nodded and released my hand. I let it drop to my side, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. I glanced around at the rest of the park. When I turned back to Gabe, he nodded toward the ground.

I sat down with him. “Besides, a friendship would mean more to me than a marriage.”

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