Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
“That’s not—”
“Don’t even try to justify it. He’s taking advantage of you, Aspen. How could you be so fucking stupid not to see that? He’s getting laid while you’re living it up, thinking that after all this time he’s finally going to love you? Reality check. He’s not,” Austin roars, every word stabbing me right through the heart and rendering me speechless. “This is Izaac Banks we’re talking about. How fucking long have you known him? Have you ever seen him care about a woman? Fuck no. He’s not capable, which is why I never wanted you anywhere near the bastard in the first place.”
“That’s not fair. I’ve loved him all my life.”
“I don’t give a shit, Aspen, because what it comes down to is that he’s never going to love you in return. What aren’t you understanding? He’s not capable of it. He doesn’t know how to love a woman, and you’re sure as hell not going to be the one to make him see the light. So congratulations. All you’ve done is destroy a lifelong friendship because you couldn’t keep your fucking legs closed.”
My hand snaps out, rocking across his face and leaving my palm stinging. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” he scoffs, clenching his jaw. “Then enlighten me. If he really fucking loves you, then where is he? Because I sure as fuck don’t see him here breaking down my door in order to fight for you.”
Horror blasts through me, and I stumble back a step, truly hearing what he’s saying. Izaac hasn’t tried to fight for me. “No,” I say, shaking my head. “He loves me. I know what I felt.”
“Right,” Austin grunts, looking at me as though I were nothing but a piece of filth beneath his shoe. “You’ve had some fucked-up infatuation with him for twelve years, but you don’t really know him, not like I do, and you, you don’t mean shit to him. You’re an easy fuck, just like every other woman who’s ever thrown themselves at him. It’s embarrassing. So, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to end whatever the fuck you’re doing with him, and you’re never going to see him again. After that, then maybe we’ll talk. Until then, get the fuck out. I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
I crumble, dropping to the ground as every part of me shatters, blackening the already broken fragments of my soul. Tears spring from my eyes, rolling down my cheeks as a heavy lump forms in the center of my throat, making it almost impossible to breathe.
How could he be so cruel?
I’m an embarrassment. He’s never going to love me. He’s not here fighting for me.
Austin is right.
And I’m nothing more than a fool. All I’ve done is set myself up to be pushed away. I knew that was a possibility, but I felt it. That connection between us was real. I couldn’t have imagined it. And when he kissed me in his spare room and took me to his bed . . . That meant something. I know it did.
But if Izaac truly felt something real for me, then surely he would have been here, doing everything he could to try and make this right, to fight for Austin’s approval. So where the hell is he?
Devastation grips hold of me until I’m nothing but a crumbled mess on Austin’s floor, and then without even a glance back, my brother walks away, leaving me to wallow in my self-pity and heartbreak.
Almost twenty minutes go by before I find the strength to finally pull myself to my feet. I haven’t heard from or seen Austin since the second he walked away, all I know is that he’s right. I have to end it with Izaac. I’ve imagined it all inside my head.
He hasn’t tried to fight for me.
Izaac warned me right from the beginning that he was never going to love me, and maybe he feels something, but he said so himself, he doesn’t know how to love, and I was the foolish, lovestruck idiot who was too blind to actually hear what he was saying.
Every part of me aches as I turn on my heel and trudge back toward the front door, each step heavier than the last, knowing what I have to do. Me and Izaac—we’re done. We were done the second Austin found me in his best friend’s arms. We were done before it even started.
I forced this relationship onto him. Sure, it started as a complete coincidence, but the day he stormed into my apartment and demanded I forgive him for what happened during my second visit to Vixen, I should have turned him away. I never should have demanded he teach me. We could have called it quits, and sooner or later, everything would have gone back to normal.