Chapter 11 Astrid #2
The couple doesn’t question it, separating and leaving without saying a word.
Honestly, the way kids at our school worship the football players is so wrong.
Joe’s not even the QB, and people defer to him like he’s a god.
It’s pathetic, and the players shouldn’t take advantage of it.
Don’t get me wrong, Joe isn’t a bad guy, and he’s probably the humblest one on the team.
I wouldn’t have dated him for nine months if he wasn’t, but he’s no saint either.
“That was rude,” I say as he shuts the door.
“So is avoiding me,” he retorts, leaning back against the counter and folding his arms.
“You’re right, and I’m sorry. I don’t want things to be awkward between us. We can be broken up and still be civil to one another.” I’m on friendly terms with all my other exes.
Silver-blue eyes drink me in from head to toe. “You look stunning, Asti. Still the most beautiful girl in the room without even trying.”
“Thank you. You look good too.” There is no denying he’s hot, but it didn’t take too long for the attraction to fizzle out. At least on my part.
Combing his fingers through his dark-blond hair, he lowers his gaze to my mouth, and I squirm, hating the way he’s looking at me. He pushes off the counter and reaches for me, taking my hands and pulling my body flush against his. “I miss you. I want you back.”
“No, Joe,” I softly say, shaking my head and removing my hands from his. I take a couple steps back. “We both know whatever chemistry we shared was long over before we ended things.”
Hurt splays across his face, and I feel like a bitch, but there is no point in sugarcoating things. I don’t want to get back with him. The truth is, I have barely thought about him since we ended our relationship in July.
“I didn’t end things, you did, and that’s bullshit.” He scrubs a hand across his smooth jawline.
Time for some hard truths. “I don’t say this to hurt you, Joe, but I’m just not into you anymore. What we shared has run its course.”
“Your judgment is clouded by grief, babe.”
My mouth hangs open in shock and outrage. He did not just say that!
“I never wanted to break up,” he continues, oblivious to my feelings, “but I know you were going through a tough time with your gran, and I wanted to give you the space you needed.”
He is un-fucking-believable. I told him clearly I wasn’t feeling it anymore, and this is nothing more than pure fantasy on his part.
“Us ending had nothing to do with my grief,” I snap, working hard to leash my mounting anger.
I should have ended things sooner with Joe, but Mormor was gravely ill during the last few months Joe and I were together, and she was my priority.
I only broke things off with Joe a couple of days before we got on a plane for Sweden when the situation forced me into action.
“If you’re honest with yourself, you know things were dead between us. ”
He vigorously shakes his head. “That isn’t true. I love you.” He reaches for me again, but I cross my arms and glower at him. This is fucking priceless.
“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have spent all of August balls deep in Nina.”
He curses under his breath. “I knew that was it. Who told you?” His gaze narrows as he studies my expression carefully. “Did she say something? She promised she wouldn’t, and she knew the score, that it was only a fling until you came home and came back to me.”
He is so delusional, and I’m struggling to see what I ever saw in this guy. “Come on, Joe. Seriously. This is Ryemont. Did you honestly think you’d be able to keep that a secret?”
“I’m sorry.” Air whistles from his mouth. “She meant nothing. It meant nothing. It was just sex. I was heartbroken, and well, I hadn’t had any in a while.”
I instantly see red. “Fuck you, Joe.” I turn around to leave, but he grabs me, spins me around, and traps me against the counter.
“No, no, no. I did not mean it like that.” His pleading eyes beg for understanding that’s in short supply right now. “You know I was cool to wait for you. I didn’t ever pressure you, did I?”
I grind my teeth to the molars. He didn’t pressure me, and he said he was happy to go at my pace, but the second things were over between us, he was diving between the sheets with another senior.
“I don’t care that you fucked Nina. You were a free agent.
But don’t turn around now and claim that you love me and you were heartbroken, presenting it as an excuse for hooking up with someone so soon after we were over.
And saying you hadn’t had any in a while is utter bullshit too.
We might not have gone all the way, but we did a lot of other stuff, things I hadn’t done with any of my other boyfriends, so I find your excuse insulting as well as pathetic.
” I push his chest, but he doesn’t release me. “Let me go, Joe.”
“I can’t, Asti. I can’t be without you. Tell me how to make it up to you, and I will.”
“You can’t un-fuck her,” I say, trying to slide sideways, out from under his arms, but he cages me in tighter.
“I thought you didn’t care that I fucked her.” A muscle clenches in his jaw as he grabs my upper arms, his fingers digging into my bare flesh.
I truly don’t, but I’m going to cling to that as the reason because telling him—again—that I’m just not into him anymore is obviously not going to work.
I raise my voice, so over this convo. “I lied. Now let me go. You’re hurting me.”
The door crashes open a split second after I’ve uttered the words, and a scowling Callan Hunt pushes into the room, looking like he’s ready to commit murder.