Chapter 11 #2
“I’m sorry, Reed. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I didn’t promise you anything last night either.”
Spinning away from the look of distaste on his face, everything inside me was breaking in slow motion.
As I got to the hotel door, I wrapped my hand around the handle and pulled, but the door slammed closed again, jarring my wrist. Reed had his hand shoved against the surface, trapping it closed: his fist close to my head as I turned slowly to face him.
“If you do this, you’re only going to make me hate you.”
Reed glared down at me, looking so very tall and brooding. “Do what, Storm? What the fuck am I doing?”
“Drawing this out. It’s painful enough as it is,” I cried.
“Maybe I want you to hate me. Hate is better than fucking nothing,” Reed batted back, raising his voice as he snarled in my face. He kept his hand pinned beside my head.
“Please, Reed. Just let me go.”
I could see he was fighting with himself, but didn’t he get it? We were never meant to be. Nothing normal had ever been written on the cards for us.
How could they have been when one of us was a selfish bitch?
Reed’s frame vibrated with unleashed anger, and I knew I hadn’t seen the half of it yet. The tendons on his neck were pulled taut, and that muscle in his jaw jerked, a sign that he was struggling to hold onto his temper. Not the physical side I had seen on the games field, but scary nonetheless.
After a brief stare off, Reed sighed and dropped his hand, his shoulders sagging. “At least let me drive you back to where your car is parked?”
“No, I’ll grab an Uber. You need to get ready for your meeting.” And with that note, I turned back to the door, the handle rattling in my shaky palm.
“Storm?” That pleading tone lanced through me like a knife, but I held my hand up and yanked open the door.
“No, Reed. I’ll see you later.”
I now had the door open, but thankfully, the corridor was empty.
“You’ll see me later, how?”
My hold on the door went lax as I twisted around.
I swallowed, and it felt like there was acid in my throat as my eyes scanned his face. The cold, toneless way he said those words chilled me to the bone. “At your next session. Remember, we changed today to Thursday?” I couldn’t keep the hope out of my voice.
He then looked at me as though he thought I was mad, and I probably was: as if we could go back to that Doctor and client situation. The whole thing was a joke from start to finish. But I had wanted to help him, genuinely, and now I’d done the opposite of that and fucked with his head even more.
Reed met my stare with one of his own; it was intense, drilling beneath my skin. “Under the circumstances, I think I should transfer to another therapist, don’t you think?”
My shoulders slumped in defeat as he was right.
“Of course. I’ll get the papers agreed with the management.”
Reed smirked as he dashed a hand over the scruff on his strong jaw. “Yeah, what rationale are you going to give for the transfer? How you fucked one of your patients? Surely that’s against the code.” He was being unkind on purpose, and I knew I deserved that.
“Irreconcilable differences?” I said with a shrug, pulling the door wider without breaking eye contact.
“Yeah. That sounds about right.”
“Goodbye, Reed.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he said, the words cracking: his voice was so soft I could hardly hear it. It felt like I was in limbo, standing in the doorway between two scenarios, happiness one way, misery the other.
“What?” I said, giving him my attention again.
He was standing in the middle of the room, the messed-up bed beside him, like a huge fucking statement.
I glanced down at my necklace, which I’d taken off the night before.
Jasper’s ring was swinging from the chain, clutched in one of Reed’s strong hands.
Those same hands that had touched every inch of my body: ones that used to soothe away all my troubles when we were stupid, love-sick teenagers.
Shaking back my hair, I held my hand out as he walked towards me.
My whole world felt like it was about to end as he dropped the chain into my open palm and then used his fingers to close my hands around it.
I could feel Jasper’s ring digging into my skin.
“Wouldn’t want you to lose it. Not along with everything else you’ve lost today. ”
I didn’t need to ask what he meant by those dark, hurtful words as my chest caved in on itself.
As I left and allowed the door to click shut, I heard a muffled curse, followed by a loud thud.
Probably Reed punching the wall, something he’d done a few times after a fight.
I left that room, literally running down the corridor with tears streaming down my face.
Jasper’s ring was shoved in my pocket, like an unwanted gift.
When I arrived in reception, I was carrying the weight of betrayal on my shoulders, but who had I let down, Jasper or Reed? Then I realized, it was neither. The only person I had disappointed was myself.
The truth of Reed’s parting words hit me like a baseball bat.
I had lost him for good this time: the only boy I had ever and would ever love.
* * * * *
Reed didn’t come after me, not that I expected him to. The Receptionist booked me an Uber, and I was dropped off at the Ritz in good time before driving back home. My eyes narrowed as I pulled up the driveway; thankfully, Jasper’s car wasn’t there yet.
I ignored the judgmental look from the waiting staff as I let myself in and rushed up the stairs to my room.
After showering and washing Reed off every inch of my body, I changed into a pale blue sundress and slipped on my mules. I only had time to part-dry my hair, so I pulled it back into a ponytail, which fell down my back in damp tendrils.
Checking my face in the mirror, I grimaced. Was I usually that red? I blotted my cheeks with a face sponge to try to take out some of the color. I so hoped Jasper didn’t notice I’d been crying.
When I got to the breakfast room and turned the corner, there he was, the pompous dick who was blackmailing me into marrying him.
Jasper Dean Remmington the Third, sitting there, reading the paper, the quiff in his hair looking twice its usual size.
A picture I would be greeted with for the rest of my life when I was his wife.
I remember when I’d first met him and learned his full name, I hadn’t been able to say it with a straight face.
Jasper Dean Remmington the Third. He’d gotten the name from his great-grandfather and Theo’s dad, who were both named Jasper. Personally, I would have broken the cycle with Theo.
And I would soon be Mrs. Storm Remmington. The name didn’t even sound right. Storm Prescott. Not that, worked. I swallowed, trying to ease that tight feeling in my throat.
And then it hit me like a fucking bullet.
I couldn’t go through with it! Not now.
I was in love with another man. Business arrangement be damned.
The realization of what I would be giving up crashed into my thoughts, and everything in my head went into overdrive. My eyes frantically scanned Jasper’s face, searching for a sign of weakness: a kink beneath his perfectly reserved features.
Surely, I could make him see sense. He wasn’t an overly cruel man. Yes, he’d thrown some threats around in the past, but maybe that was just hot air?
Maybe if I told him what had happened with Reed the previous night, he would be the one to call it off?
My left eye started to water. Generally, people didn’t die from verbal confrontations. Cry in the bathroom afterwards or indulge themselves with an ice cream-fueled sugar coma, but not death. So why did I feel so terrified?
Straightening my shoulders, I walked into that room with as much poise as I could muster. I didn’t miss the grin two of the maids gave each other as I passed by. One of them had seen me arrive back in yesterday’s clothes at the end of the day. I hated it when the staff gossiped.
“Morning, sorry I’m late,” I huffed, out of breath from rushing. I dropped a quick peck on Jasper’s cold cheek. Trying not to act weird. His skin was cold and smelled like lavender face cream. The opposite of masculine. “Daddy not joining us?”
My unwanted fiancé shook his newspaper out and then folded it. “No, he was called away to the office.”
I watched the way he carefully laid the paper next to his plate as I unfolded my napkin. Another one of our maids appeared at my side; she was one of the younger ones and always looked terrified.
“Can I get you some bacon and eggs, Miss?” Fuck that sounded good. I could have done with a round of bacon. Didn’t they say that carbs heal shame?
I smiled and opened my mouth to reply, but was cut short. “No. Miss Summers will have coffee, no cream, and avocado toast, thanks, Judy.” I bit my lip and allowed him to order for me. I wasn’t stupid; I knew I needed to pick my battles, considering what I wanted to say.
Are you really going to do it?
Smoothing down my hair, I straightened my shoulders and met Jasper’s hooded expression with a bright, all-knowing one of my own.
Neither of us spoke for at least a minute as Judy buzzed around the breakfast table and rearranged the cutlery. As she left, Jasper pursed his lips thoughtfully. I raised an eyebrow, not saying a word. Didn’t they say, less is more?
Taking a sip of my coffee, I could feel his laser beam eyes on my face. A yawn erupted from somewhere, and I tried to shield it by lifting my coffee cup.
Of course, Jasper saw it. And why was I tired? Probably because I’d spent most of the previous night fucking Reed’s brains out. My heart thumped with inappropriate thoughts as I sat before my fiancé.
“This is the part where you tell me where you were last night?” Fuck, talk about cutting to the chase.