Page 71 of Once Upon A Player
What if she doesn’t want to?
No way. She has to.
Because I don’t want to go to Madrid without her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Violet
Lucas’s careless dismissal of my jobs hurts. I know they’re not on the same level as his, but they’re mine. And I work hard at them. There’s no need for him to belittle them as though they’re worthless.
Even if he obviously thinks so.
“You expect me towrangle itwith less than five days’ notice?” And it’s not just the work situation, although that’s bad enough. Mum’s surgery is in five days. Even if I found someone to cover my shifts at Sycamore Lodge and another dog walker for Scout, my neighbor’s Great Dane, there’s no way I could leave next week.
Why can’t he understand that? He’s talking about moving toanother country, not just down the road. Even if Mum weren’t sick, I couldn’t leave my family at such short notice.
I thought he knew me.
The conversation with Pene and the others hammers through my brain.
It’s only a couple of hours on a plane…that’s not a problem for anyone is it…
Virtually the exact same thing he said to me two nights ago. How many other people—othergirls—has he so carelessly invited?
He only invited them to a bloody party, Violet.
Pene didn’t sound as though she was only going for a party.
“Why not?”
He’sserious. He has absolutely no idea how badly he’s upset me. “For a start, how am I supposed to live out there without any money?”
It’s not that I’ve ever earned a lot, but I’ve always made enough to get by, and the extra from Sycamore Lodge recently has been really nice. I’ve even been able to start saving. Until Lucas threw my glaring inadequacies in my face, I’d been proud of how far I’d come over the last few weeks.
“Violet. If there’s one thing you don’t need to worry about, it’s money. You can just focus on completing your degree.”
Shock claws through me, an icy disbelief that heactually suggestedI’d be happy to sponge off him.
Is that how little he thinks of me?
My throat aches, and it’s hard to push out the words. “Idoworry about money, and there’s no way I’d just live on yours.”
He stares at me as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “What the hell do you want, then? You told me you wanted to travel. We’ll be able to visit all the places on your bucket list. I don’t see what your problem is.”
Hot tears burn.Don’t you dare cry.I want to travel with him more than anything. This time yesterday, when I was so sure Lucas and I were exclusive and what we had was so special, I would’ve been stoked, would’ve made plans for the future, for when everything at home had settled down.
But now I’m not certain of anything. I can’t even think straight.He can’t see what the problem is.Before I can stop myself, I blurt out my deepest fear. “My mum’s not well.”
She’s so sick, and I’m so terrified…
He glares me, and I recoil. “If you don’t want to come with me just bloody tell me. Don’t make up some lame excuse.”
Lame excuse?
There’s a burning rock lodged in my chest, and I can’t breathe.This isn’t happening.How could he say that? I told him the truth, and he doesn’t believe me.
All this time I’ve fooled myself into believing I saw beyond the mask he shows the world. That beneath the sexy smile and Mediterranean blue eyes was the guy of my dreams. A wonderful guy, who was so much more than a string of cliched sound bites.
