She chuckles. “If I were placing bets, I’d say it’s already over. She seems a little shaky already. Not everyone can keep up with you, after all. Remember when you told me you wished your father had died along with your mother instead of lingering for a decade after? So dark, Landon. Do you share things like that with her?”
“It’s none of your business what I share with her.” I scowl, annoyed by the reference to things I shared with her in the past. “Why do you care, anyway? Have you run out of playboys and princes to marry and discard?”
She is quiet. “What if I have?”
I lean close to her. “I’d say…I really don’t care. Stay out of my personal life, Ava. I’m serious. And for your information, I have absolutely no interest in yours.”
I leave her at the table and go over to where Rachel and Aidan are still dancing.
“May I?”
Aidan raises an eyebrow at Rachel, and she nods. He hands her over to me then saunters off.
The song is slow, and I hold Rachel close, barely moving to the mellow music.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
She shrugs. “Aidan has been excellent company.”
Meaning I haven’t. The small dig makes me smile. “I’m glad you two like each other.”
“What’s not to like? You know I think he’s great.”
The music continues, and I can feel the distance between us like a widening fissure. “Rachel…”
Her eyes meet mine, and I continue.
“What happened earlier in the suite—”
She stops me. “Not now, Landon.”
“No, I…I haven’t stopped thinking about it. You being here means a lot to me, Rachel. I hate the idea that I hurt you. I don’t… I’m sorry for not trusting you about Jack.”
She doesn’t look at me. “You already said that.”
I exhale. “I want us to work,” I tell her. “I want—”
“Landon. We don’t work.” Her eyes fix on mine, wide, green, and almost luminous. “We just don’t work.”
I feel as if I’ve been kicked in the gut. Anybody else and I would walk away, but here, now, with her, I want to beg, to plead.
My voice is miraculously even. “You’re wrong.”
“Am I?” She searches my face. I can hear all the words she’s not saying, the jealousy and suspicion. She’s rejecting me, the man she no longer wants.
“Don’t do this again.” I’m begging now. “For God’s sake, don’t do this again.”
“Why not? What does it even mean to you that I stay? It’s just sex, Landon. Apart from that, we have nothing.”
It’s just sex, Landon.
“We talked about this, and you said you wouldn’t walk away.”
“I’m not walking away. I’m trying to make you see that we don’t have a chance.” She sighs. “You don’t trust me. I don’t trust you. We don’t have anything to build a relationship on. Maybe it’s best if we both walk away.”
Please. The word is on the tip of my tongue.
Don’t be pathetic, a voice says in my head.