Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right

spun around, and sure enough, there was Jace. He shot a glance my way but aimed his question at Demi. “Where are you headed?”

“Keira’s got ulcers. I’m grabbing her some spray and meds,” Demi replied, not missing a beat.

The moment she finished, Jace made a beeline for me,

“Have you not been drinking enough water?” he asked,

He knew me too well. My body had a thing for overheating if I didn’t stay hydrated, which meant plenty of water and porridge–like meals. Skip either of those, and I’d be dealing with nosebleeds or mouth ulcers.

After ten years together, Jace had all my quirks down pat

But hearing him bring it up now felt like some twisted reminder of what he’d told Steve–that we “just know each other too well“,

“To well” that I no longer intrigued him. Not like that Tanya did.

“Mr. Johnston, is there something you need?” I shot back my voice icy and formal, ignoring his question altogether.

Jace’s face darkened. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he caught sight of Hayden beside me. His expression tightened before he turned back to me. “Come over here. We need to

talk.”

I didn’t know what he wanted, but with Hayden standing right there, this wasn’t the place. So, I followed Jace a few steps away.

We hadn’t gone far when I stopped, cutting him off. “I’m on a tight schedule. If you’ve got something to say, spit it out.”

Jace halted, his jaw clenched in obvious frustration. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? Trying to get back at me?”

“Huh?” His words blindsided me, and I was left scrambling to catch up.

He pressed on, “You don’t want to get married, fine. You’re pissed off and trying to find another guy just to spite me, fine. But don’t go after someone we both know. It’ll mess up friendships.”

His words were loaded, hitting me with so many implications that it took a second for them to click. Especially that last part–my mind immediately jumped to Steve.

Someone must’ve told Jace about Steve’s visit. But what threw me was how Jace had twisted it all up in

his head.

His own messed–up logic had him thinking everyone else was as shady as he was. It got under my skin. Do you really think everyone’s as low as you?” I asked.

His eyes narrowed, clearly not getting the point.

let out a bitter laugh. “You’d even go after your friend’s widow.”

His face darkened. “I’ve told you before, Tanya and I aren’t what you think.”

I was done with this argument. “Whatever you two have going on, it’s got nothing to do with me.” RêAd lat𝙚St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only

“Is this just your

r excuse because you’re done with me? Is that why you keep dragging this out?” Jace shot back, flipping the blame onto me.

“If that’s the story you want to tell yourself, fine. Didn’t you say we just know each other too well? Too well that you’re not interested anymore?” I brought it up again because that wound was still fresh.

Jace’s hand, hanging by his side, curled slightly into a fist. “What do you want from me?”

“I want us to be done, Mr. Johnston. Stop playing these games–sending messages and deleting them, showing up to interrogate me whenever I talk to someone else.” I was blunt.

He wasn’t used to hearing this from me. For years, I’d played the perfect partner, always gentle, always agreeable.

He probably didn’t expect me to be so cutting now. His expression darkened even more. “You really think I can’t live without you?”

“No, Mr. Johnston, you’ve got wealth, looks–women are probably lining up for you. Why would you need anyone?” I scoffed.

But then Jace took a step closer. “If you really believe th… then why do you keep holding on mistake I made?”

A small mistake?

The thing with Tanya wasn’t even a blip on his moral radar.

n to a small

Right then, I knew I’d made the right call to end this. His words only confirmed that he’d been so brazen with Tanya because he thought I couldn’t live