Chapter 68
“You what?” I feel lightheaded.
I stare into his eyes, my face hardening. This can’t be right.
“You heard me.” He shifts his body onto the end of my chair — I cross my legs beneath me so we’re not touching. He takes both my hands in his, his eyes pleading. “I never stopped loving you. That morning I found you locked out here, trying to disguise yourself in that stupid hat and sunglasses — the second I saw you again, I knew I wasn’t over you.” I stare at him, speechless. “I wasn’t ready to get married when you asked. I was completely caught off guard. I panicked. But I feel ready now.”
“What?” I sputter.
“Baby.” Rex shifts down off the chair, onto one knee — oh my God . “You are everything I could ever want, and everything I could ever need. I am a better person because of you. Olivia Renee Hillcrest, I love you.” He picks my hand back up. “Will you marry me?”
“Rex, I—” My heart is pounding out of my ears.
“Just say yes,” Rex interrupts, his eyes shining.
But a long shadow falls over my chair, a tall figure lit from behind. I spin around to see Dom standing behind the glass wall of my rental, watching Rex propose.
Horrified, I see Dom shake his head at me, then turn and walk out my front door.
“Dom!” I yell after him, shaking Rex off, but he holds my hand harder, still hovering on one knee. I push past him. I need to go after Dom and tell him that I never intended to get back together with Rex, and that his proposal just blindsided me. I have no idea how much of that he heard, but it was enough for him to look furious.
Rex jumps to his feet, grabbing my arm. “Forget him. Say yes and we can leave here together. We can go back to New York—”
That hits another nerve.
I don’t ever want to leave this place, especially with him.
I hear Dom’s car scream out of the driveway and down the road. I’ve already missed him.
Rex finally releases my hand.
“I can’t marry you.” It’s the same words he’d said to me just a few months ago, as cameras caught every word.
“Why? You’re going to marry that loser?” He points a finger toward the spot where Dom was just standing.
“Maybe?” I smile at the thought. “I hope so.”
Rex scoffs, standing up.
“He’s just your rebound. You’ll come crawling back to me when he breaks it off.”
As if on cue, my phone pings next to me — I lunge at it, hoping it’s a message from Dom.
But, it’s a text from Juju.
It’s Juju. I got your number from Rex’s phone before we broke up. This is going to be hard for me to say, but I think you should know—
The text ends there.
A roll of nausea rushes through me, as if my gut knows what’s coming before my mind can register it. I watch as the three little dots appear, letting me know that she’s not done yet. She’s about to drop a bomb into my life. I can feel it. I look up at Rex, about to ask him to explain, but my phone pings again.
After I found out about the video of you proposing to Rex, I looked up the date it happened. I had no idea Rex and you were together when we met online. We’d already been talking and seeing each other for about six months by the time you proposed to him on air. He’d already purchased his ticket to Hawaii to come be with me later that same week.
Blood runs cold in my veins as I finish reading the last line from Juju.
I look up at Rex. He looks pale.
“Who’s it from?” He sounds nervous. Afraid that I might actually know the truth about him. About us . “Is it from Dom?”
I shake my head, watching cold fear run through him.
“Juju?” His voice cracks.
“Tell me when you two started dating.”
He swallows, unable to speak.
“You were cheating on me for six months?” My voice is dripping with venom.
I want to wring his neck.
Right here, right now.
“Just let me explain.” He steps toward me.
I hold up one finger to stop him, taking a bigger step back than the one he took forward. I don’t want him touching me anymore tonight. Not now, not ever. My whole body starts shaking. I should have never agreed to talk to him.
“All this time, I knew something was off. I should have listened to my gut.” I don’t stop the wild-eyed grin creeping over my face. After everything that’s happened tonight, I feel unhinged. “I don’t think I ever truly wanted to marry you, Rex. Did I tell you it was all my producer’s idea? That she was the one to tell me to ask you?”
Something in me breaks free, like a rope snapping from a pile of dead weight. I study his face as the last ounce of respect I have for him drains from me. Forever.
“You’re not the man for me,” I tell him coldly. “Not now, not ever again. But I think I know who is.”