Page 76 of Addicted to You
I snorted a laugh, thinking about how she was the reason we’d ended the way we had.
Sure. I gotta go. My flight is taking off
As the plane took off, I leaned back against the seat, staring out the window as the city shrank below.
Before moving to Boston with Britt, I’d had my own apartment in Houston—a place that had been mine, even if I hadn’t been there much. But when we’d moved in together, I’d let it go, figuring we were building a life in Massachusetts. But now, after leaving Texas for a relationship that hadn’t lasted, I had no place to call home.
I wasn’t homeless, exactly. I had a hotel booked for a few days before I started with my new client, but it reminded me too much of bouncing between families in foster care, never knowing how long I’d stay before I had to pack up and move again. Even when I had landed with the Rhodes, I’d known it wasn’t permanent. They cared, but I was still just a kid passing through.
Maybe that was why I felt so unsettled. Because even though I was used to picking up and leaving, something about this time felt different. I wasn’t just moving on to the next client—I was leaving something behind.
Someonebehind.
My phone was still in my hand, and I stared at it. One text. One call. And I knew Silas would answer. Knew he’d tell me to come back,that he’d tell me again that he didn’t want me to leave. And fuck, I wanted to hear it again.
What we’d had hadn’t just been some meaningless fling. I knew that. Silas knew that. But what was it? I’d been in a real relationship before and had started to build a life with someone. And yet, this thing with him had dug under my skin in a way I hadn’t expected. A way I wasn’t sure I was ready for.
Instead of texting him, I dropped my phone into the seat pocket in front of me. If I was going to figure out my feelings for him, I needed distance. But even at thirty thousand feet in the air, I wondered if I was making a mistake.
I knockedon Britt’s apartment door and then waited with my hands in my pockets. It was weird not using my key to let myself into a place I was on the lease for. That was something we’d need to deal with another time because all I wanted to do was get my things, get new clothes, and be on my way.
The door swung open, and Britt stepped aside to let me in. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I walked past her. The place looked the same, but it felt different. Like I was stepping into someone else’s life instead of one I used to share.
She shut the door behind us. “I was gonna make some coffee. You want some?”
I shook my head. “I’m just here to grab my stuff.”
She took a step closer to me. “I meant what I said about talking. I hate how things ended.”
I lifted a shoulder. “Yeah, well … that was your call.”
She frowned. “I know. And it was a mistake.”
I balked. “What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to know I regret what I did. I got caught up in my own shit and took you for granted. I thought being with Kenny was what I wanted, but I was wrong. I shouldn’t have cheated on you. I shouldn’t have pushed youaway. I miss you.”
I let out a slow breath. “Britt?—”
“I want us to try again,” she said, cutting me off. “I know I messed up, but I love you. And I don’t want to throw away what we had.”
I stared at her. I wasn’t the same person who had walked out of this apartment. What had happened in the past few weeks with her brother had changed me. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said finally.
Hurt flashed in her eyes, but she swallowed it down. “Because you don’t love me anymore?”
I stiffened, my stomach twisting. “Britt, it’s not that simple.”
She swallowed hard, her eyes searching mine. “You just let me walk out of your life. You didn’t even fight for me.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I didn’t have a response. She was right. I hadn’t fought for her. But what was I supposed to do? Beg her to stop sleeping with someone else? Pretend like there was something left to save? She’d already made her choice.
As she studied me, her expression shifted from frustration to realization. Not because she knew the details, but because she could feel it: the new distance between us, the way I wasn’t torn up over the split the way she thought I should be. Something had changed; she didn’t know what, but she knew it was enough and I wasn’t getting back with her.
She nodded slowly. “You just let me go. Like I didn’t even matter.”
“You’d made your choice, Britt. What was I supposed to do? Beg you to stay after you told me you were cheating? Your brother needed me, and you expected me to fight for something that you had already broken?”
