He’s let in someone I know he feels nothing romantic for, yet he keeps pushing me away.
“One day, Maddox Locke, when you decide to let go of that pain inside you, you’re going to understand what I mean. You have so much love to give in you.” Chelcie’s words hurt. She’s right—I know that because I’ve seen that love he has the capability of—but it still doesn’t make it feel any better knowing that it probably is not meant to be with us.
I can’t see his face, but I watch Chelcie’s eyes widen in shock. Oh I know what she saw—the truth. She saw his pain clear as day. The pain he keeps away from everyone, choosing to suffer alone and not let anyone close enough to help.
“Yeah, sweetheart. Maybe you’re right.”
His words are my undoing. He really doesn’t want me. Hell, maybe he does believe that he can love someone now—now that he’s gotten better about being so untouchable. But . . . he clearly doesn’t feel like I’m worth that risk. I’m standing right here, begging him to let me take on his pain, yet it isn’t enough.
With my eyes filling with tears, I watch as he walks right past me. He doesn’t even look in my direction. I’m completely invisible.
As the evening progresses, my despair and bitterness grow. I smile with the girls, attempt to put on a brave face for the guys—but Maddox gets nothing. Until I hear Asher announce that he and Chelcie are getting married and he actually has the nerve to look smug. His eyes go from laughing at Chelcie to emotionless when they lock with mine.
I snap . . . There really isn’t a pretty way to explain what I feel in that moment. I’m just . . . done.
“You’re fucking unbelievable,” I mumble, careful to keep my voice low enough so that only he hears me.
His brow lifts and he cockily asks, “What was that, Em?”
That son of a bitch. I can feel my skin heat. Not from embarrassment, but from red-hot rage.
I jump from my seat, not even flinching when it falls to the floor with a crowd-stopping boom. I storm over, grabbing his beer for a deep pull while I try and pick my words carefully. If these are the last ones I ever speak to him, I need to make sure they count.
“Look at you. Sitting there silent as always. You’re in a room full of people who love each other. People who have fought their demons in order to be together. They had the strength to battle anything that stood in their way. The courage to push away from the uncertainty of the unknown. And what does Maddox Locke do? He sits back and gives everyone else around him advice on how to make that happen! He fights for them, but he refuses to fight for himself. FOR ME! Well guess what, buddy? I’m sick of it. I love you FOR you. I never gave a damn about your past, those secrets you hide so deep. I’ve been willing to fight for you. Battle those demons that shake your doors at night. And while I’m at it, I might as well go for broke, right?” I laugh a sound that is nothing sort of the frustration I’m feeling. “I never gave a damn about you having one leg. You think you’re slick hiding it, but I see you! I didn’t love you for whatever limbs you have or don’t have. I want you for your heart, and I won’t settle for anything less.”
I throw him a look that I know he takes seriously because his eyes flash. He doesn’t move though. He lets me walk over to Asher and Chelcie. He gives me the time to say goodbye and apologize for ruining the night. He doesn’t move when I walk to the door, turning to give him another look. He sits there—and that’s it.
Luckily, when we got here, he asked me to hold his keys, so with a wicked grin, I hop in his Charger and take off. I’ll stay in a local hotel room for the night—then decide where I go next.
CHAPTER 16
Emmy
It doesn’t take me long to clear my things from his apartment. I decide to leave Cat, mainly because I have no where to bring her and all the things that she needs, but also so that Maddox will see this as me not running.
I’m not. I’m going to get myself settled away from him and work on learning how to get him out of my heart. I can do it . . . I think.
My phone rings over and over shortly after I leave Asher and Chelcie’s, but I ignore it. I know my window of opportunity is short, and if I stall at all, he will be here and throw his demanding alpha vibes up—refusing to let me leave.
Not wanting to take his Charger and further fuel his anger, I make a call to the only person I can think of who can help me out right now.
Sway.
“Well hello, you dark prince you,” his voice chimes through the line, leaving me confused—until I realize that I’m on Maddox’s landline.
“Hey,” I whisper. “I hate to disappoint you, Sway, but I don’t think I’m your dark prince.”
“Why do you sound like that, Miss Emmy?”