Page 118 of Seven Year Itch
My nostrils flare as rage simmers in my veins over her lumping me into the same category as Randal. I’m nothing like that fucking clown in there. “I’m sorry for not telling you what I saw, but you have to take some accountability for choosing that ass fuck to begin with. That’s on you. You wanted to call that wedding off and you didn’t. That is somethingyouhave to live with... not me.”
“At least I actually got married,” she snaps, crossing her arms over her chest. “At least my relationship was real. You didn’t even know a woman was pinning you against your brothers. You’re not exactly talented at picking winners either.”
My spine straightens at how casually she just weaponized my past against me. A past that I don’t talk about with anyone. Only her. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, I do.” Her chin trembles as tears fall down her face. “I know you, Calder. I know that you just people-please and do whatever everyone else wants you to do because you’re too afraid to do anything on your own in case you fail.”
“Oh, is that right?” I let out a dry laugh.
“Yep,” she chirps with an audible pop. “And your fear of failure has arrested your development, so now you’re stuck in a constant state of never growing up. Going to sex clubs, living on a mountain with your brothers, working the same job that was handed to you by your dad, never opening yourself up to relationships. I’m surprised one of your self-help books didn’t help you see you’re just a passenger in your own damn life.”
Her words cut deep as she points a mirror at me, forcing me to see my life through her eyes. No wonder she can’t admit any feelings toward me. I’m a joke to her, just like I am to everyone else in my family. She doesn’t see me as anything more than a casual fuck, like everyone else.
My voice is grave and detached when I reply, “I must have missed that chapter.”
“Guess so.”
Silence grows between us as I watch her stand before me, her shoulders under her ears as she visibly turns back into the judgmental, controlling Karen I knew her as before. “But what about you?”
“What about me?”
“What about that big, grand speech you gave last night about wearing your insecurity as a badge of fucking honor and allowing people to lift you up? Was that all bullshit? Because from my perspective it just looks like you don’t know how to stand up for what you want.”
“What do I want, Calder?” she screams, her eyes wild and manic. “Since you seem to know me so well, what the hell do I want?”
“Me!” I roar, my muscles tight over every part of my body as I say the quiet part out loud. The part that terrifies the fuck out of me because the last time I put myself out there with a woman, I almost lost everything. My brothers, my family, my work, my home. “You fucking want me, and you’re using this goddamn PowerPoint challenge as an excuse because you’re too insecure to go for what you really want.”
She releases a haughty laugh and chews her lower lip. Her nostrils flare as she nods aggressively. “That may have been true before, but I promise you it’s not true now.”
I expel a huge breath, feeling like I just got the wind knocked out of me. One bump in the road, and she’s done. Jesus fucking Christ, she is crazy.
Dakota’s phone buzzes, and she glances at it before turning to make her way to the vehicle that’s approaching.
“So that’s it? You’re done?” I’m still unable to truly accept this as over.
She pauses at the car door and looks back at me. “Too much has changed now, Calder. Your mask came off... and what a coincidence... it only took seven years to show the real you.”
Chapter 40
The Hacker
Calder
“What the actual fuck are you doing?” a high-pitched voice shouts into my phone line.
“Um... hello to you too, Everly,” I reply, my brows furrowed because I have no idea what kind of greeting this is from my sweet niece to her uncle from across the pond.
“What are you doing with your dating apps?”
I frown at the dating profile that I logged into for the first time in months. I don’t know what I was doing exactly, other than just trying to find my former self again. But looking at the various conversations I’ve had with other women literally makes me sick to my stomach. I hate who I once was.
Then it dawns on me. “How do you know I’m doing anything with my dating apps?”
She groans in frustration. “Because I’m logged into your accounts, and I can see you updating them! You better not make your profiles live again, Uncle Calder, or I swear to God!”
“Hey,” I bark into the phone, causing Milkshake to jump from her end on the couch. “Those are my profiles, and I’m changing my damn password now that I know for certain it’s been you messing with them.”
“Like it’d be hard for me to guess your new password.Milkshake111?” My head jerks because that’s exactly what I would have changed it to.
