“Bella—”
He is on his feet rounding the table. “No.” I point at him and back away. “Don’t even think about touching me.”
He curses and scrubs his jaw, and somehow, he manages to look tormented, like I really matter to him. How many women has he made think they mattered to him when they were just sex? “Forget the contract,” he says. “Just do this with me. Date me. Marry me. This isn’t how I wanted this to work out. I thought we’d both have the freedom—”
“To fuck each other out of our systems? Leave, Tyler.”
My doorbell rings and I say, “That will be Dash and Allie.”
“Of course, it is,” he says. “Now I have to leave, but this isn’t over. We are not over.”
“We are so over, Tyler. You insulted me, and tried to pay me off. I feel like a whore. You made me feel like a whore.”
“Bella,” he breathes out. “God, woman. I don’t think—” The doorbell rings again, and he huffs out a breath. “I’m going.” He rotates on his heel and strides toward the door.
I follow him, and why on Earth do I want to scream for him to stop? Why do I hurt so badly at the idea of him leaving? I reach the edge of the foyer as he opens the door to face Dash and Allie.
“What the hell are you doing here, Tyler?” Dash demands.
“Ask your sister,” is all Tyler says, and then he disappears out into the hallway.
Dash and Allie step into the foyer, and Allie is holding a Golden Retriever puppy. I’ve wanted a Golden Retriever since I was a kid, but my mom was busy, and often traveled all over the place with my father. I just couldn’t have a dog. In my mind, when I think of getting a dog, it’s a Golden.
“Surprise!” Allie says, while Dash counters with, “What the fuck is going on, Bella?
I burst into tears.
The End…for now