Page 81 of Fake It Till We Fall
“What the hell is going on?” Reid interrupted me. “You’re not usually such a dick. That’s my job. And Quinn said she saw you and Harper fighting. Something about a ring.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Reid shook his head with a humorless laugh. “I knew it.”
“Here it comes,” I said flatly.
“You’re damn right, here it comes,” Reid shot back. “You knew this was going to happen the second you let her back into your life. The second you agreed to pretend to be something with her, that you never quit being in your mind.”
His words hit way too close to home.
“I’m not doing this with you right now, Reid.”
“The fuck you aren’t.” He grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around as I tried to turn away. “Let me guess, you forgot the whole thing was only for show and now she’s going back?—”
“Yes!” I yelled. “Happy now? I let myself fall in love with her again…or maybe I never quit…” I shook my head for a moment before looking at my brother again. “And yes, she’s leaving again. She took a job and sets sail on New Year’s Eve. Fool me twice and all that shit.”
I dropped the hammer on the half-built stage and blew out a breath, out of steam after my outburst.
“And you’re just going to let her go?” Reid said simply. “Without a fight? Just like last time, huh? How’d that work out for you?”
Frustration and rage bubbled up inside me. They weren’t feelings I was used to, especially aimed at my twin brother, but I’d had just about enough of the interrogation. Nothing was going to change this. Not this time.
“It’s not the same thing, Reid.”
“You’re right.” He nodded smugly. “You’re not kids anymore. Now you have something to offer her. A life. Stability. A future.”
“Wrong,” I snapped, the words burning out of me before I could stop them. “I don’t have a damn thing to offer her. Ollie’s selling the store to a fucking franchise. It’s gone. Every single thing I worked for, everything I planned, everything I thought I could have—it’s over. So yeah, I don’t have a single fucking thing to offer her. Why shouldn’t she leave?”
The silence that followed my outburst filled the cold air around us. Reid stared at me, his mouth pressed into a line as he assessed me.
“You’re an idiot,” he said finally.
“You’re right,” I agreed. “I was an idiot to believe that this town, that I…could ever be enough for her.”
“No,” Reid said pointedly. “You’re an idiot because it’s not about any of that. None of that stuff matters.”
I moved to speak, but he stopped me. “You love her,” Reid continued. “And she loves you.That’sall that matters. And you’re still going to throw it away because you’re too damn stubborn to believe that’s enough. Thatyou’reenough?”
“Get out of my face,” I growled.
He held my gaze for a long moment, then shook his head. “Fine. But you know as well as I do that if you let yourself make the same mistake twice, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.” He turned and walked off, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
As soon as he was out of sight, all the fight drained out of me. I sank down on the edge of the stage, my breath fogging the air. My eyes landed on the ring, still sitting on the chair where Quinn had left it.
For a long moment, I stared at it. My gut twisted with guilt and regret as I contemplated what to do with it. I should leave it for someone else to find. Or throw it as far as I could to get it out of my sight.
Ultimately, I pulled my glove off, reached out, and closed my fingers around the cold metal.
Harper was gone. The store was gone.
Some things weren’t meant to last.
It was time I accepted that.
Chapter 22
Harper
