Page 43 of Daisy Chain
I shrug. I don’t think he’d listen to me if I told him to leave. “Just say what you came here to say.”
He clears his throat and shuffles on his feet. “I want to try again. We can make things work. I’d love it if we could go back to how things used to be.”
I scoff. “I don’t want to go back to the way things were. You were too controlling and didn’t feel a connection between us.”
He scratches the back of his neck. “Oh… well… I’ll change. Do you think we could try again?”
I frown. “You’re not serious, are you?”
He runs agitated fingers through his dirty blond hair. “Yes, I am. You were the best thing to happen to me.”
This time, I laugh out loud with genuine humour. I know his parents were just as pushy as my father for our relationship to work. And I heard on the congregation grapevine that they were extremely disappointed we broke up. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re behind this. “The best thing to happen to you? You called me vanilla. And that sex with me was ordinary.” My face heats up. Not because I’m angry with Jeremy. I couldn’t care less about him. It’s because Kade is hearing all this. I don’t want him to think of me as any more vanilla and boring than he already does. Maybe I should have asked him to leave.
Jeremy digs his hands in and out of his pockets. “I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it. I know I hurt you.”
“You didn’t hurt me. I needed to care more about you for that to happen.”
He steps back like I’ve slapped him. “You don’t mean that.” It was a harsh thing to say, but he needed to know the truth.
I blow out a long breath. Between Kade’s attitude toward me and now Jeremy wanting to reconcile, I’m done with the day—and men. I want to get into my apartment and crawl into bed. “Yes, I do. We were never going to work. I stayed longer than I should have.”
“You really mean that?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. My father liked the idea of us more than I did.”
Jeremy’s shoulders slump. “If that’s how you feel. My parents are going to be disappointed. They’re embarrassed to attend your father’s church after our breakup.”
Exactly what I thought. They’re behind this. “It is.”
“If you change your mind, you know where to find me,” he says with a glint of hope in his eyes.
“I won’t change my mind.” No point giving him false hope. “Goodbye, Jeremy.”
He walks up the street and disappears around a corner.
“So… argh.” The conversation was a little humiliating. I stare at the cracks in the concrete at my feet. I can’t look Kade in the eye. “Thank you for taking me home.” I turn to head into the building.
His hand clasps around my bicep. “I said I would see you safely to your apartment.”
I point to the glass doors. “I’m not far. You don’t have to do that.”
He gives me aI’m not taking no for an answerlook.
I sigh, too tired to argue. “Fine.”
We head inside and take the steps to the first floor. At my door, I turn to him. “This is me. I’m safe. Happy?”
“I’m far from happy.”
I frown. “What have you to be unhappy about?”
“That fuckwit coming to your building.”
I drop my head. “Sorry you had to hear that. I’m so embarrassed.” Now I wish I’d asked him to leave.
He places a finger under my chin and tilts my face up. His gaze pierces through me, rooting me to the spot. My heart rate picks up. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. He’s the one who should feel embarrassed. Only a stupid kind of man lets a woman like you get away. He should’ve done whatever it took to make you happy.”
My breath hitches in my throat.A woman like me?What does he mean by that?
