How many times did he whisper sweet nothings into my ear as we made love?
It had to mean something, right?
I didn’t know anymore.
As much as I wanted to deny the truth to Penny’s words, they made sense.
Painful, heart-wrenching sense.
It was the only one available.
He was horny.
And so was I.
And there’d been an immediate physical connection.
But we fell in love, didn’t we?
All those times we confided in one another, talking about our future, the life we would create for ourselves. That was based on more than just lust, wasn’t it? Even now, I could feel my heartstrings stirring at the thought of the alpha. I loved Mason, but the question was, did he love me?
I replayed memory after memory in my head, but now, all the romantic moments were clouded with doubt.
Was it all a ploy? Something to pass the time until he could move onto something better?
No, please God, no. Don’t let it be true.
Penny shook her head regretfully. “I’m not sure what else it could be,” she said. “I mean, from what you’ve told me, you haven’t changed. Nothing is different. Didn’t you think it was strange that on the day he gets his freedom, he decides to dump you? It can’t be just a coincidence.”
Her words pushed away any doubt left in my mind.
Penny was telling the truth.
Oh god, I was just Mason Evercore’s prison fuck. Nothing more. Just a convenient way to get off his rocks while he was incarcerated.
My heart shattered into a million pieces as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. I was left breathless, pain radiating through every inch of my body.
This couldn’t be happening.
And yet it was.
My sobs grew louder. “So I was just the fat girl that Mason used to satisfy his lust?” I choked on the words. “He couldn’t find a skinny girl so he figured I would have to do?”
Penny bit her lip, remaining silent.
I whimpered, tears flowing anew.
It was true.
All of it.
I’d been played by a heartless, ruthless billionaire.
Once again, I was just the fat kid crying by myself at the edge of the playground.
The girl with a broken heart, my life blown to smithereens … and I’d never been the same again.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Laney
Six months later …
I gave Jim a call a few months ago. There was nothing to lose after all. We’d done nothing wrong after all. So I texted him, hoping to find a friend.
Jim’s response was immediate, overdone with exclamation marks and emojis everywhere. And a few minutes later we were talking, his voice as amiable as ever. Falling into our same old rut, he started telling me all about his day and the newest video game he was playing. In a way, it was nice to hear his voice.
By the end of our conversation, we agreed to grab coffee.
A platonic get-together. That’s all it was. That’s all it was ever going to be. Just friends.
To be fair, even though I had broken up with him, I hadn’t fully ignored him. Sometimes we’d go out together with a group of acquaitances, kind of like a huge circle date. After all, Jim had been such a mess after the breakup that I didn’t have the heart to cut him out of my life. He wasn’t a bad guy. He deserved a friend, at the very least.
So we would get together every once in a while for lunch or a movie. It was no big deal. I’d become more of a big sister than a love interest, I think. Which was fine. In fact, it was better this way.
But I still wished there was a way to shut him up on occasion. Jim had such a way of going on and on about his life. Work. Video games. Online dating. Rinse and repeat.
Today, we were at one of my favorite coffee shops. I held the cup in my hands, enjoying the warmth. I was staring into the distance as Jim prattled about some video game he bought a week ago. He was trying to get advance to the next level, but apparently, it was really, really hard.
“Hey, Laney.”
I perked up at the sound of my name. “Oh, sorry, I must’ve zoned out for a little bit.”
“No worries,” the gentle man smiled. “But do you think you could help me with something?”
“Oh?” I cocked my head to the side, wondering what he might want.
His cheeks colored slightly as he looked at his phone. “Well, I wanted a woman’s opinion on my LoveSwipe profile.”
“You’re on LoveSwipe now?” I asked, slightly surprised.
“Well eConnection didn’t really get me anywhere. So I thought I would give this a shot instead because apparently, a lot of ladies are using it. Do you think it’s a bad idea?”
“No,” I stammered, slightly started. “I think it’s great that you’re getting back on the dating scene. Here, let me take a look.”