Page 96 of Shattered Mind

I scoff again, not ready to accept that as an excuse. “Seems I’m not the only friend you like to fuck then, huh?”

Her head rears back as if I’ve slapped her and I instantly wish I could take the words back. “You’re unbelievable. First, you show up here after weeks of no communication. And then, you have the audacity to insult me. I don’t fuck every man that shows me a little attention. I’m not fucking desperate. You need to grow the fuck up, Grayson.”

“I need to grow up? You ran away.” I say, my voice raising an octave as my chest heaves.

She laughs in disbelief as she drops her head back. “I didn’t run anywhere. I sold this house. Carter helped me. I came back to clear it out. I wasalwayscoming back.Youran away, Gray. Not once, but twice. You ran after my accident, and you ran from your parent’s dining room. You,” she digs a finger into my chest, “are a fucking coward.”

“I almost lost you!” I yell, emotion burning my chest.

“I’m not yours to lose. You made that clear from day one.”

Her words are like a knife to the heart, and I slump back a step, my chest caving in on itself. “That’s not true and you know it,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

I see the fight leave her as her shoulders drop and she releases a harsh exhale. “No, Gray. I don’t know it.”

“Liv,” my tone is pleading, a desperation taking over as I see the guard go up in front of her eyes.

She shakes her head at me. “You should go. Go back to your hotel. Or Rosewater Creek. I don’t know, Gray. Just get out of my house.”

I stare into her sky-blue eyes, searching for something, anything to show me I haven’t lost her completely, but she tears her gaze away and leaves the room without so much as a backwards glance.

And me? Ido what I always do.

I run.

CHAPTER 56

OLIVIA

Imake it all the way to my bedroom before my emotions get the best of me. With my earlier anger quickly dissipating, the weight of the last twenty-minutes comes crashing down on me and I fight to catch my breath as soul-wrenching sobs tear from my throat.

I close the door behind me and sink to the floor as my heart breaks into a thousand pieces in my chest.

I can’t wrap my head around what just happened.

What the fuck is he doing here?

Why would he fly ten hours to turn up at my door after he hasn’t so much as text me in over a month?

My head is scrambled.

My mind, shattered.

I just don’t understand his reaction to Carter.

Fuck. Carter.

I drag myself up off the floor and swing my bedroom door open.

I have no idea if he’s still here or not.

Taking quick steps towards his room, I knock lightly on the door and wait. A beat passes before the door swingsopen and a now dressed Carter stands on the other side, holding an icepack to his jaw.

I wince as I take in the dark bruise quickly forming. “I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

He shakes his head, his eyes filled with nothing but understanding. “I probably would’ve reacted the same way if I were him. Wanna tell me who he is?”

“You didn’t gather who he was from all the shouting?” I try to joke but it falls flat.

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