Page 65 of Little Bitter Truths
“I can’t believe you showed up at a conference you had no business attending.You pretended to be someone else.You inserted yourself into my life under false pretenses.”
“I was going to tell you,” he insisted.“I just needed time.”
“When?After you decided I cared about you enough to overlook the fact that you’ve been lying to me since the day we met?”
He looked at me as though hoping I would step in, but there was nothing I could say to undo what he’d done.And even if there were, I wouldn’t have.
Mia began pacing the room, running a hand through her hair.“I can’t believe I let you into my house.”
“I was worried about you.When you told me someone might be trying to harm you, I?—”
“Stop it!”she said.“Just stop.”
“I’m sorry, Mia.I’m so sorry.”
Emotion got the best of her, and she blinked away tears, trying her best to hold it together.“You sound just like him, just like Christian.He was obsessive and overbearing, convinced that his feelings were more important than boundaries.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?Because from where I’m standing, it feels spot on.”
“I am not my brother.”
“No,” she said.“You’re worse.At least he didn’t pretend to be someone else to get close to me.”
That did it.
Jeremy’s shoulders sagged, and his gaze dropped to the floor as he sank back down on the bed.“If I could do it all over, I would have been honest with you from the start.I didn’t think it through.I just, I wanted to know you.And then I developed feelings, and I didn’t know how to fix things without losing you.”
“Too late.You’ve already lost me.”
“Please, just give me another chance.Let me prove to you that what I feel is real, that I’m real, and that what we have means so much to me.”
“You don’t get another chance to rewrite the narrative.”A tear slid down her cheek, and she flicked it away.“I trusted you.Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to let anyone in after everything that’s happened?”
“I know, and I hate myself for it.”
“Good.You should.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
The room felt smaller somehow, the air heavier.
Then Mia turned.
Without another word, she opened the door and stepped outside.
“Mia, wait!”Jeremy shouted, pushing himself back to his feet.
The door slammed behind her, the sound echoing through the room.
He moved for the door, reaching for the handle, ready to go after her.He pulled it open, and as I was about to stop him, I hesitated.Whitlock was on the other side, his hand resting against the doorframe like he’d been there long enough to hear the tail end of the conversation.
“Hello,” Whitlock said, glancing at Jeremy.“Seems you’ve gotten yourself in a bit of trouble.”
Jeremy blinked, caught off guard.“I’m not sure what you think you heard, but it isn’t any of your business, old man.”
“That’s where you would be wrong.”
