“I…I guess.”
“Well, I’m the one who risked everything by trusting someone, which is fucking hard for me. So, while you protected yourself, I put myself out there completely. How do you think that makes me feel?”
He inhaled quietly, the softness entering his eyes. “Yeah…that was an asshole thing to do.”
“Yeah, it fucking was, Dax. I have no idea who you are.”
“I’m the same person,” he said calmly. “The only thing that’s changed is the size of my wallet.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t know where you live. I don’t know what your life is like. I like the version of you that I met. I highly doubt I’m going to like the billionaire playboy who’s got twenty cars at his penthouse.”
“I’m not a playboy—”
“How would I know?” I countered. “Because I don’t know you at all.”
“Then get to know me again,” he said, practically pleading. “I really like you, Carson—”
“I don’t like you—because I don’t know you. You’re literally a stranger to me.”
“Come on, that’s not true.”
“I was in a relationship where the asshole lied to my face. You lied to me every single day.”
“I didn’t—”
“You took me to a fake apartment. You know how creepy that is?”
He was quiet, having no defense.
“You took me to fancy places and made me feel bad you were paying because I didn’t know you could afford to buy the damn restaurant—in cash.”
He bowed his head.
“I left my phone at your apartment, and you said you had gone to help a friend—which was obviously a lie.”
Now, he really looked guilty.
“Lies. Lies. Lies.” I held up both hands. “I’m done with lies. If I’m going to be in a relationship with someone again, it’s going to be based on honesty. I can’t be with someone who respects me so little.”
“I do respect you—”
“People who respect you don’t lie to your face. They don’t ask for an exclusive relationship without giving you the full story. They don’t ask to fuck you without a condom.”
He kept his eyes down, full of shame.
“If we were just fucking around without an emotional attachment, I wouldn’t have cared. But you’re the one who wanted to step it up, to ask for more, to tell me I was the one who needed to get my shit together.” I walked toward him, pointing at his face. “How dare you treat me that way and make me feel like shit when you were the one with your walls up? You’re such an asshole, Dax.”
He closed his eyes and sighed. “I-I didn’t handle it well. I just didn’t expect to like you so much. I didn’t expect that this would go somewhere.”
“When it did, you could have told me, and none of this would have happened.”
“I know, but the longer I waited, the more afraid I became that you wouldn’t forgive me.”
“So, stepping into your office to interview you was the best choice?” I asked sarcastically.
“I didn’t think it was going to be you—”
“I know,” I snapped. “Because you specifically asked for Vivica.”
He closed his eyes again.
I knew that was the final nail in his coffin.
“You asked for Vivica deliberately, to keep this lie going. And that is fucking disgusting.”
He was silent.
“Get out of my apartment, Dax. And fuck off on your way out.”