Page 13 of The Desperate Warrior

Tears slipped down her cheeks. How could she compete with that? It was a lost cause. “You should’ve thought about all of this before we started a relationship.” Her chest heaved up and down as her breath came faster.

His eyes deepened with regret. “I know. I’m so sorry.”

“Save it,” she barked.

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“Well, you did.” She took in a ragged breath, trying to get a handle on her emotions. She’d thought she could build a life with Brock. In one moment, it was all ripped away. Maybe this waspayback for the long string of guys that she’d dumped. If that were the case, then the payback was brutal.

Desperation coated his voice. “The time I spent with you has been incredible. I will always care about you. You have no idea how much I wish things could be different.”

“Do you love Adrian?” She eyed him in a challenge.

He rocked back. “Don’t do this. You know I love you.”

He’d never spoken those words to her before. Plenty of times, she’d imagined how joyous it would be to hear him say it. But they were sharp blades that cut her in every direction.

“I don’t know anything anymore,” she muttered.

They eyed one another as silence engulfed them. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, hurling out hurtful things, but that wouldn’t do either of them any good. And it was Zoe’s wedding day. She couldn’t cause a scene. So she did the only thing she could. “Never contact me again,” she snapped as she turned and marched away.

Somehow, Jules managed to make it through the reception. It helped that Brock was nowhere to be found. She knew this because Dad certainly tried to hunt him down.

Jules could only assume that Brock had left, and that was well and good. Her mother noticed that something was off and asked if everything was okay. Jules pasted on a smile and lied through her teeth, knowing that if she opened up to Mom right now, she’d completely lose it.

After the elaborate sendoff of the bride and groom, which included sparklers and bubbles, Jules complained of a headache and told her parents that she was going home to her house to get some rest. “I’ll see you both tomorrow,” she promised.

It wasn’t until she got in her car that she was able to let her pent-up emotions go. She ugly-cried in heaving gasps as she drove, welcoming the blackness of the dark night that surrounded her. Thankfully, the traffic was light, so she didn’t have to worry about being crammed with bumper-to-bumper cars.

Her phone rang. She ignored it, her frenzied state commanding her attention. She had so many emotions tumbling inside of her that she couldn’t make sense of any of them. She was so fighting mad at Brock. She was furious at the utter unfairness of the situation and felt guilty for being resentful of a seven-year-old boy who had a right to have his father in his life on a daily basis. If Brock had been planning to go back to Adrian all along, then he shouldn’t have led her on. Even though she’d never met Adrian, Jules detested the woman. She certainly knew how to pull the strings to get Brock to go running back to her.

Well, good riddance!

She tightened her hold on the steering wheel, letting the hot tears gush rivers down her cheeks. The fact that Brock admitted that he loved her made the pain even more sharp.

Her phone rang again. No way was she taking any calls tonight.

She looked up and realized that the stoplight was turning red. She hit her brakes and came to an abrupt stop that jarred her entire body.

She waited … and waited.

When her phone rang a third time, she pulled it out of her purse and answered with a terse, “Hello.”

“Jules, where are you?” her cousin Nikki exclaimed. “Did you take off right after Zoe and Tippin left?”

“I did. I have a killer headache. I’m heading home.”

“Your mom said you had a falling out with your boyfriend.”

The light finally turned green. She pushed her foot on the accelerator, holding the phone to her ear. So much for her trying to keep a lid on the matter. Mom had been onto her the entire time. “Yeah.” She heard the tremble in her own voice. “It’s over,” she said dully as more tears rushed to her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Nikki lamented. “I’ll meet you at your house. We can order some pizza and gorge ourselves until we want to puke.”

She crinkled her nose. “I don’t know that I’m up for that tonight.”

Nikki’s response was immediate. “Okay, no pizza for you. I’ll eat, and you can watch.”

“Not tonight.”

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