Page 69 of How to Break My Heart 1
“What amIdoing here?” he repeats, moving closer to me.
Marco takes a step back, his face clouding with hurt. “I didn’t realize you were together.”
“We’re not together, Marco. Far from it.”
“I think I’ll just leave,” he says, eyeing Aston.
Aston doesn’t breathe a word, but I know his smug ass is relishing in the fact that he has gotten his way. With a half-smile, Marco turns his back and walks into the grocery store.
The moment the automatic doors close, I snap my attention back to Aston.
“God, Aston. You haven’t spoken to me for a week. Not even a text. According to Maddy, you bailed and went back to the city. So, as far as I’m concerned, you’re bored playing your game with me, which means I am free to do whatever the hell I want.”
“Get in the car,” he demands.
“No.”
“I said… get in the car, Everleigh. Stop being a pain in my ass.”
“And I said…no!” I raise my voice. “Oh, and by the way, aren’t you involved with someone? It’s bad enough you hurt Ramona’s feelings.”
His eyes fire back with frustration. “Get. In. The. Car.”
“I live a block away, asshole. I amnotgetting in your car.” I turn my back and begin walking, refusing to turn around. I expect to hear the sound of his engine revving, but instead all I hear is silence.
My door is only a few feet away as I turn the corner. I retrieve my keys from my pocket and open the door, only to smell his scent before he says a word.
There’s no turning back now.
Aston followed me here.
And the scary part is—part of me wanted him to follow me.
It’s no longer about the cat chasing the mouse.
It’s the mouse running with the thrill of beingcaught.
CHAPTER 19
Aston
The night of the dinner ended just as I anticipated. My father drank himself into a stupor while calling me the biggest disappointment of his life. It’s nothing new, and frankly, I can take his drunken slurs. It’s better me than Mom or Madelina.
He knew better than to show his face the following day. Mom stayed at the hotel, and he drove to Boston for a few days. God knows what business he had there, and I did not care to ask. It made sense to drive back to the city, given that remote work is much more complex than I thought, and Madelina was kind enough to fetch my keys from Everleigh so I could drive back.
And that in itself is a whole other mind-fuck.
Everleigh evoked something inside of me, something I can’t explain.
No one, and I mean no one, drives my car.
But it isn’t the car that made me question everything, far from it. It’s how she made me feel that night. I lost control inside that bathroom, and afterward, she saw a side of me I wish she hadn’t. The moment her hand caressed my cheek, I pulled away. Scared of how a simple touch made me feel like I deserved better.
Hence my need to escape to Manhattan and back to where I thrive on my own.
Will sits across from me inside the boardroom after everyone leaves the room.
“What the hell was that?” he blurts out.
