Page 234 of The Reason I Married Him
“Because you left me the night before our wedding,” he nearly shouts. “You said you weren’t in love with me. You spoke nothing about trust. Why the hell am I going to chase someone who doesn’t share the same feelings as me?”
So he was in love with her.
Maybe he still is.
From the anger on his face and the protruding veins in his neck, I’m going to guess that he’s still in love, which makes me feel . . . stupid.
Incredibly dumb.
Incredibly stupid.
Incredibly naïve.
Here I am, falling for a man who is . . . as Wallace put it, using me. Sure, he’s told me he likes me, and he’s treated me so well, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s what this entire situation has been, him using me, and I guess . . . me using him.
Feelings were never supposed to get involved, and I let them.
I let him take my heart.
I let him hold it carelessly in his hand.
And right now, as I stare at the man I love who is staring at the woman he loves . . . all I can think is how stupid I am for thinking this could be any more than what it actually is.
“I loved you, Wyatt. I was just scared.”
Wyatt sifts his hand through his hair as he contemplates what he’s probably going to do with all of this. Well, I’ll make it easy on him because I never should have gotten involved in the first place. This whole idea was stupid.
So with a tear falling down my cheek, I turn away from them and head toward The Almond Store.
I’m nearly out of the parking lot when I hear Wyatt call out, “Aubree, wait.”
But I don’t. I keep moving forward. I need to get away from him, from this. Anything to hold my heart together by a thread.
I’m just about to cross the street when my hand is tugged back, and I spin toward Wyatt, right into his chest.
“Aubree, don’t leave.”
I push away just enough to look up at him. And as I stare into the eyes of the man I’ve found such comfort in, I almost feel like a piece of me is breaking apart. Because I never expected him to hurt me like this.
On a deep breath, I say, “Wyatt, I think it’s best that you sort out your issues with her before you even think about speaking with me.”
“Aubree, there’s nothing to sort out.”
I pull away from him and say, “There is. It’s obvious in the way you reacted. Maybe if you told me about her, about your feelings, about your almost marriage, I would have a touch more understanding and empathy, but right now, I can’t even look at you.”
I try to walk away, but he grabs me again. “Aubree, they’re doing this on purpose. They came here to manipulate the situation. We can’t let them.”
“We?” I ask, looking him dead in the eyes. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no we between us.”
“Aubree, don’t,” he says, his eyes pleading. “Please don’t walk away. Let me sort this out.”
“Sort it out in your own time, without me.” And with that, I snap away from him and jog across the street, right toward The Almond Store.
I don’t bother to look back. I can’t.
Not when I’m minutes from falling apart. Instead, I charge right into the store, the overhead bell ringing above me. Luckily, no one is in the store because when I make eye contact with Hattie, I burst into tears.
Chapter Twenty-Two
