Page 93 of Most Valuable Player
“I don’t owe you anything,” I snap. Chills claw up my arms, freezing me alongside the biting evening air.
“All I’m asking is that you give me a chance.” It’s an aching plea, and it stirs the remnants of guilt floating around my chest, causing my eyes to water. “I worked on myself for you. I bettered my mental health so you’d take me back. I’ve apologized. And finally I’m at the point where I know how to treat you and care for you. But you don’t even want to look at me.”
Liam’s fists quiver. My body pulls me backward, though he closes the gap immediately, driving me to the curb.
“Really?” he whispers. “You have nothing to say? After everything I’ve been through foryou, you’re okay with tossing me to the curb? Liketrash?”
There’s a familiar tremor in his voice that churns nausea in my stomach. “I…I’m glad you’re a better man,” I whisper, heel smacking the curve of the parking lot. There’s nothing behind me now, but a strip of grass and a wire fence. “I hope you can treat your next partner better than you treated me.”
“There is no next partner.” Liam’s eyes become more desperate. “It’s you, Mason. Didn’t we decide that years ago? Why did you accept my proposal if you didn’t believe inus?”
“I thought it was us,” I croak, eyeing the door behind him. I’m not fast enough to dodge him and grab the handle, am I? I’ve been working out with Cameron, trying to gain muscle, weight, and stamina. But one month on the elliptical doesn’t amount to much against someone like Liam. “I just…don’t think we’re compatible.”
“Butwhy?” he demands. “I thought you loved me.”
“I’ve moved on, so you should, too…” I can barely utter the words—each one gets quieter as Liam stalks closer, separating the gap between us. The angry speech I prepared to hurl at him has disintegrated. Casually, I tack on, “It’s cold. We should talk inside.”
Liam stops in his tracks. He tightens his fists, breathing deeply, eyes flickering with ire.
Is this my chance? “I’m sorry,” I say softly, trekking sideways, rounding his position toward the door. There’s so much I want to say. I want to yell at him, shove my finger in his face, call him out for the pain and emotional torment he’s caused me. But despite the rehearsal and my own angry, flared emotions, one fact remains, more powerful than my own intentions.
I’m still scared of him.
I stride toward the door, heart hammering. It’s right there. Nine feet away. Eight. Seven. I can’t quicken my pace. It’s like the morning after I blacked out. I have to pretend everything’s fine and I’m not ready to peel my skin off because the agony of this situation is too much.
Five. Four.
He’s changed. He’s better. He’s letting me go.
Three. Two.
A hand seizes my wrist, hard enough to make my bones throb, and heaves me away from the door with such strength that I feel the ache in my shoulder. “Really?” Liam’s voice is a low, dangerous snarl in my ear. “You think you can justmove on, Mason?”
His grip is so tight that I squirm despite my instincts to stay still. I try shoving, but he merely seizes my other arm, yanking me face-to-face with him.
“All the work I put into undoing my personality to make youhappy.” He pins me against the rough brick wall, his fingers bone white around my wrists. His irises are frigid flames, searing into mine with such spite that tears glass my eyes. “You’re going to give me another chance. Because you told me to put in the work, and Idid. You can’t decide you don’t love me anymore.”
“…Okay.”
“I have a house waiting for us. I took a position in my father’s company to support you—so you could pursue whatever dreams or hobbies you wanted. I gave you everything, and this is how you’re going to treat me?”
…
“Your age and maturity are only so much of an excuse. You have no idea the kind of pain you’ve caused me. I can’t believe you had the fucking gall to show up holding hands with a boy who convinced you he’s better for you than a mature, reliable, financially stable man.”
…
“So, here’s what’s going to happen. First, you’re going to apologize.”
…
“I’m waiting.”
“Sorry.”
“For what?”
…
