Page 46 of B-ry
I paused at the door that I saw him go into. I listened just to make sure that I wasn’t going to interrupt anything. When I was met with a dead silence, I lifted my hand and knocked.
The door flew open with the kind of aggression that I almost expected.
I lost my breath.
Because there he was, standing right in front of me in nothing but a pair of low slung sweatpants.
Yes, I was turned on as my eyes roamed all over his hard, broad chest.
But then I met his eyes and everything suddenly felt cold.
“What are you doing here?” His tone caught me off guard.
I supposed I had worked it up in my head that maybe he would be happy to see me. Even just a little. Only, he looked like he was pissed like I had never seen him before. Not even the first time we met and had traded verbal punches.
“I’m done, Laurel,” he said before I could even get my brain to come up with words to push out of my mouth.
The air froze in my lungs and I felt tears threaten to fill my eyes.
“I can’t do this anymore,” he said in a tone that made me shut my mouth so fast my teeth clinked together. “This isn’t what I want. You… here… like this. No.” The corner of his mouth turned down in a tight frown as he shook his head. “This isn’t working out for me. I think it’s best you go now. Find someone else to take your shit because I’m done.”
“Wait,” I cried out desperately as he started to close the door. But I could see it in his eyes. There was nothing I could say to save this. “Who am I?”
Tears stung my eyes.
His nose flared. His jaw clenched. His eyes stared down into mine so coldly.
“Who am I?” I gritted out.
It was a stupid, silly game. It was. But I needed to remind him of the good times. I needed to hear him say that I was still a queen in his eyes. I was desperate for him to see that I loved everything about him. Even his odd knowledge of history and strange royal affairs.
“The Queen.” That was all he said. I could see it all slipping away.
“And who are you?” I choked out.
My King.
I wanted to hear him say it. Couldn’t he see? That was what he was to me. He was my strength. He was my love.
“Nobody.”
Without another word, he shut the door in my face.
I stood there frozen in utter shock because that was not what I had been expecting. I really didn’t see that coming and I was left so confused. I tried to replay his words to figure out how it had come to this. I felt so dense right now because I couldn’t come up with a single thing to explain what just happened.
He had rejected me. In all honesty, I had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
But what I couldn’t figure out was why. It almost sounded like he was hurt. The look in his eyes was fierce but there was something more behind it. A wounded heart, maybe. Had I really been so blind all this time?
I started to see the night from his eyes. I couldn’t even deny that I might have pushed him there. I had been a… bitch. Cut into his manhood just about every chance I had, though I wasn’t aware of it at the time. Tonight must have been the final straw.
Perhaps, this was where I had hoped it would end. Maybe he thought he wasn’t good enough for me, when in reality, I wasn’t good enough for him. I was broken. Maybe beyond repair. I wasn’t good for myself, let alone anyone else. So what if I thought I was in love with him, maybe my head knew better than to let him get mixed up in the mess that was currently me.
I stumbled down the stairs, knowing it was pointless to try and bang on his door.
Everything was spinning and I wasn’t sure if it was because all the alcohol was catching up to me or if it was the slap of reality I had just gotten. I sat down on the bottom step and it was all I could do to hold back the tears.
I had been so stupid.
