Still Jaded (Jaded #2)

Bryce shot out a hand and shook his head. I fell backwards and crawled onto a couch. My voice sounded mangled, but a small scream still came out. Then I gasped and my voice hitched. With my eyes wide, irate, I hissed at both of them, "You don't get to do this. You don't get to come here and sugarcoat everything. It's not okay, Corrigan! It's not okay at all and he," I threw a hand towards Bryce, "knows it!" Then I heaved a ragged breath and stood on my feet, swaying slightly.

Corrigan jerked forward again, as if to catch me, but Bryce stopped him. He spoke over me, "She needs this. Don't take it away."

My eyes snapped to Bryce, and I saw the old one. He was the one I fell in love with, the one who could withstand any storm. "Where the hell have you been?! Not here, not with me. When she got her greedy hands on you, did she suck your soul out? Where have you been, you ass**le!?"

Corrigan looked between us two and then sat down.

Bryce sighed and moved towards me. His eyes pleaded. "There are things that I haven't told you and I see that I should've. A lot of this could've been—none of this needed to happen. I'm sorry, Sheldon."

"Excuse me?" I laughed in outrage. "Excuse me? You make me crazy, Bryce! I'm going crazy and it's because of you. You're with her—"

"I don't want to be!" Bryce shouted over me. "I don't want to be with her, and I won't be anymore."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. He was going to end it? Just like that? A few screams, one punch, and he now saw reason? I couldn't believe it. Something was still wrong.

Bryce closed his eyes and seemed to reel away from me, though he never moved. A wall slammed over him and he turned, but I lurched forward and caught his arm. It was like a brick, but I yanked with all my weight and he stumbled. I caught him with my other arm and then gasped when both of his arms wrapped themselves around my waist. He pulled me tight and buried his head in my neck. Clasping him closer, I was surprised at how tense he was. It was if his whole body was made of cement. When I looked up, I caught Corrigan sneaking out of the room.

"It's over? Just like that?" I kissed his chest.

He inhaled a shaky breath and clasped me tighter.

"Bryce."

Then he lifted his head, and I gasped at the torment in his eyes. He spoke, "I'm not with her. I promise, but it's not that simple."

I felt my heart stop, just for a moment. "You just said…"

His phone rang, and I felt it in my gut. I'd lost him. He was still in front of me, turned away with the phone to his ear, but I knew he was already gone from me. His voice was soft. It was the kind of quiet I'd use if I didn't want someone else to hear my conversation, and that was the part that killed me. He didn't want me to know who was on the other end or what they were talking about. He didn't want me to know.

My stomach felt like it'd been punched.

When Bryce looked back with his phone call done, his eyes were different. The blue color was the same, but he was different. Then I realized that he looked at me differently. I was the one who had changed, but I wasn't sure if that was my fault or not.

I wrenched out, "That was her?"

He didn't reply, but I saw it in his eyes.

I nodded. "You need to go to her?"

He didn't respond again.

I didn't think I needed him to anymore. "We're done, aren't we?" Then I looked up. I pushed past the emotion that made me see him in a haze, and I focused. That's when I saw what I'd been denying for so long. There was guilt, pain, love, but there was relief. When he got that phone call, I accepted it and he knew it. He knew I was letting him go. "Do you love her?"

Bryce opened his mouth, but couldn't speak. He shook his head, but then choked out, "I don't know anything anymore, Sheldon. I really don't. I do love you and I will stop the charade with her, but it's not that easy. She's not okay, not in the head. I've told her about you. I told her how much I love you and don't want to lose you, but she really thinks we're together. I'm afraid of what she'll do when I make her accept that I'm not with her."

I shook my head because it was too much, but something told me I needed to understand this. Bryce was telling me this for a reason, but I really didn't want to hear it.

He continued, but his voice was strained. "I'm trying to reach out to her parents. I need to know there will be someone who will be there for her when I pull away. I can't do it yet. She refuses to talk to her parents, but no one in her entourage will stand up to her." He jerked forward a step, but stopped abruptly. His voice was so quiet. "I'm not lying to you when I say that I'm not with her. I'm not, but…it's complicated. When you broke up with me and left Spain, I did go on a date with her. Only one, for real, but that was it. Now everything is all messed up, with the media and my agent. I came back for you. I did that for you, but…"

"She followed you here." Then I swallowed. It was so painful, but I needed to know more. "How long as this been going on?"

I held my breath. I didn't want to hear the answer.

"Since you left me."

Six months. She had been in his life, whether in a real way or a pretend way, but she was there. Six whole months.

I choked out, "How long have you been trying to reach her parents?"