Page 55 of A Million Times, Yes

“I’m not.”

“And you lied about everything.”

“Maybe about the roaches, but I didn’t lie about anything else.” I stepped forward again and extended my hand, and she moved back several feet so that my fingers weren’t anywhere near her. “I just didn’t tell you. That’s not technically a lie.”

“You know what else you did?” Her voice had softened, and the emotion was beginning to come through. “You put me in a position to fall for you. And I was falling. Hard. But who you really are and who you portrayed yourself to be are two very different things. I could have gotten over you being wealthy. But I can’t be with someone who lies to me. That’s something I can’t get past. If who you are is an issue or not,that no longer matters because your deception made that decision for me.” When her arms crossed this time, it wasn’t out of anger; it was like she was hiding herself from me. She didn’t want me to see her anymore. “You breached a level of honesty that you can’t come back from.”

Her words didn’t just hit.

They fucking slapped.

My heart was beating even faster when I said, “What are you telling me, Maya?”

“We’re done.”

Fuck no.

I didn’t want that.

I didn’t want to hear those words.

I didn’t want the rawness of her response to gnaw at my chest like it was.

“I offered more to you than I’ve ever offered anyone,” I said. “That should mean something. That should count for something.”

She waved me away. Unbothered. Completely turned off. “I don’t care.” The warmth I’d always seen was now ice.

“Maya—”

She walked to the end of the crosswalk, her sneakers teetering on the curb. “Out of all people ... you’re a Worthington. I can’t even believe it.”

“What do you mean?” I followed her, and when she didn’t reply, I added, “Can we talk about this? Can you come over to my place, and we can sit down and—”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Maya! Please—”

She ran through the crosswalk, and instead of going straight like we normally did, she sprinted down the cross street.

She didn’t want me to catch up to her.

She didn’t want to talk.

She was done.

Chapter Fourteen

Maya

Emily stopped me in the hallway outside Bettie’s room, her hands resting on my shoulders, a look of concern on her face as she said, “Are you okay?”

I was holding Bettie’s cup of meds, and even the thin, flimsy plastic felt heavy in my hand. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.” She pushed back several strands of wet hair that had fallen from my messy bun. “And you didn’t look fine when you returned from your run this morning. You looked like you saw a cat get run over.”

I closed my eyes, remembering how I’d felt a few hours ago during my talk with Jordan—if I could even call it that, since there wasn’t a whole lot of talking that had gone down between us. There was me throwing my hurt in his face and him apologizing and telling me that he’d offered me more than anyone—a weak attempt at making me feel better. And before he could add any more weightless words, I took off.

I opened my eyes and said, “I—” before my voice cut off when the call light above Bettie’s door turned on. I rushed inside, assessing her. “Is everything all right?”