Gold, стр. 67

BRYNA HAD BEEN STARING at the world upside down and under water, and she had just broken the surface.

Her head felt clear.

Her eyes were wide open.

Walking out of Cam’s place was like having a weight lifted off her shoulders. She couldn’t believe that Pace had gotten to him and sabotaged her all over again.

Oh, wait. Yes, she could. The motherfucker! At least, this time, she had wanted an out. Who could have known that Pace’s meddling would give it to me?

She hadn’t expected this to be the outcome. She had thought Cam was a good guy. She wasn’t used to dealing with this breed of asshole. She wasn’t sure if he had been biding his time to hook up with her or if Pace had manipulated him so thoroughly. Maybe it wasn’t even his fault.

Ugh!

Either way, it didn’t really matter. Pace hadn’t made Cam try to force himself on her. No one had made him ignore her when she told him to stop. She clearly hadn’t been into it. Then, things had gone from bad to worse.

She had thought that she could reinvent herself, but apparently, that was impossible. She never thought her reputation for being a slut and playing games would hit her so squarely in the face, especially considering she had been doing the exact opposite of both.

She wanted to go confront Pace about what had happened, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. That was what he wanted.

What she really needed to do was leave here and go see Eric. Of course he wouldn’t be finished with practice for another hour at the earliest, but it didn’t matter. She would wait.

He had waited for her after all, even when she had been a gold-digging bitch and when she had pulled a one-eighty and tried to be a good girl. But she didn’t have to dig or be this good girl when she was with him. She just had to be herself. And that was a person she had been too afraid to be.

On her way back to the apartment, she texted Eric.

Let me know when you’re home.

She didn’t receive a response, and she hadn’t thought she would get one while he was occupied. The wait was endless. She was glad that Trihn was at Neal’s that night, and Stacia was cramming for a test with a friend from her class. All Bryna did was pace relentlessly and check her phone over and over again.

It dinged, and she jumped out of her skin.

Home.

She sighed in relief. She wasn’t sure if he would actually respond. It didn’t matter that it was just one word. She would take it.

The drive across town felt endless. She was so jittery that her stomach was doing flip-flops, and she couldn’t keep her legs from bouncing.

She pulled up to his place and saw his Jeep in the driveway. She jogged up to the front door and knocked twice. He never answered the door, but she figured she would try since they were on such uneven ground. A couple of months ago, she would have walked in and been having margaritas with him without even thinking about it.

When Eric didn’t answer, she pushed open the door. The downstairs was empty. Only the hall light was on.

“Eric?”

“Up here,” he called from upstairs. “Give me a minute.”

She took the stairs two at a time and walked into his room to find him coming out of the shower in a plain white towel. His hair was wet and messy. There was still that dewy shine to his toned body. She couldn’t help but look.

“Oh…”

“Are you just going to stare?” Eric asked when he noticed her watching him in the doorway.

“Should I not?” She arched an eyebrow.

“I guess it depends on what you’re doing here.”

“Margaritas?” she joked.

Eric rolled his eyes, unamused. He grabbed some clothes out of his drawers and threw them into a pile. “I’m going to change. Let’s get this over with when I get back.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

It only took him a second to change in the bathroom. He dragged a towel through his wet hair and then hung it up on a hook on the door. His hair was still tousled, and she reminded herself she had no right to touch him. She was in the wrong, and she needed to make this right.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Let’s have it.”

“I broke it off with Cam,” she said in a rush.

“And?” he asked.

He didn’t even look surprised. Maybe he had been expecting that. Had he known I was going to do it even before I had?

“And…I’m here.”

Eric shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. You can’t jump ship and expect me to welcome you back with open arms.”

“I know.”

“I’m not really sure you do.” He leaned back against his dresser. “You being single doesn’t change or excuse your behavior.”

“You’re right.” She held her hands up in defeat. What she had done was bad, and she didn’t blame him for being pissed at her. “I deserve your anger, but will you let me explain?”

“If you think you have a good enough explanation for the past couple of months, then go ahead.”

Bryna took a deep breath and let everything go. She couldn’t keep holding this in and pushing him away. She couldn’t be scared anymore.

“I thought a fresh start was what I needed after Hugh.” She looked down at her feet. She hated this part. “You know, I thought he was married and that we were just having a good time. I thought we were on the same page. But we weren’t. He wasn’t married. Actually, he wanted to marry me.”

Eric sucked in air through his teeth. Their eyes met, and she nodded. Yep. Sounded as horrible out loud as it had back in Barcelona.

“He wanted to marry me, and I was playing him. I’ll never forget the look on his face. I broke his heart.”

“Jesus.”

“I was Jude,” she gasped out. “I tricked Hugh into loving me, and for what? A million dollar house, some jewelry, and a few trips?”

“That house was worth a million dollars?” Eric sputtered.

She nodded. “Yes. I sold the house and tried to return the money to him. He sent it back to me without a note. In either case, everything with Hugh wasn’t worth it. The money wasn’t worth hurting him.”

Bryna sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to judge Eric’s reactions. She knew him well, but he was guarded. He wasn’t ready to let her back in. She didn’t blame him.

“So, I stopped. I pumped the brakes and said fuck it. I was going to leave the Queen Bee behind. Cam was an opportunity to forget all of that.”

“Because he didn’t know you,” he accused.

“You’re right. He didn’t. He thought I was someone else completely. I wanted him to think I was this other person. I wanted to fool myself into believing it. But you made me realize that I couldn’t. So, I went to dump him tonight, and I guess Pace had filled Cam in on the old Bryna.” She shuddered at the memory of him pushing her back into the couch.

“God, does everyone listen to what Pace has to say? I can’t believe anyone would believe a word that came out of his mouth.”

“I know. Trust me.”

“We’ll see about that,” he said.

“Yeah. So, then, he tried to force himself on me.”

“What?” Eric cried. He pushed himself away from the dresser in a fury.

“Yeah. When I told him no, he accused me of playing games with him.”

“Fucking prick. Just the thought makes me want to go over there and murder him.”

Bryna smiled at his reaction. Eric was pissed at her for everything that had happened, and he still wanted to pummel Cam. That was a good sign.

“I don’t think you could get away with murder.”

“He should feel lucky then.”

Bryna shrugged. She despised what Cam had tried to do, but she had already ended everything related to him in her mind. “I wasn’t trying to play games with him, but he was right. I was. I was with him—”