Page 187 of My Fake Dating with the Grumpiest Highlander
The words echo through my skull and drive straight into my heart.
“You regret it.”
It isn’t a question.
It’s a realization.
He looks away.
Fixes his attention somewhere behind me.
His silence is deafening.
Outside the tent, I can still hear laughter, music, celebration.
All that happiness crashing violently against the pain swallowing me whole.
I should leave.
I should turn around and walk out of this tent with whatever dignity I still have left.
But I stay there like an idiot, staring at him, trying to understand how we went from whispered confessions and stolen kisses to this.
“It’s because of Jamie, isn’t it?” I ask finally, my voice breaking.
Finn flinches slightly but says nothing.
“You thought that?—”
“I didn’t think anything. You can see whoever you want. It’s none of my business,” he cuts in sharply. “Our arrangement didn’t include an exclusivity clause.”
His coldness slices straight through me.
“Finn…”
“I think we’ve said everything we need to say, Mary. The Games will be over soon. After that, we can end this arrangement exactly like we planned.”
Like everything between us was nothing more than a business contract finally reaching its expiration date.
Like our late-night conversations, lingering glances, shared silences, and that kiss that made me forget my own name never mattered at all.
I nod slowly.
“Okay,” I whisper once I’m sure my voice won’t shatter completely. “We’ll do it exactly like we planned.”
I turn and walk toward the tent entrance.
My hand touches the canvas flap when his voice stops me again.
“Mary.”
I freeze but don’t turn around.
I can’t look at him again.
Not if I want to keep myself together.
“It’s better this way,” he says softly. “For both of us.”
