Page 16 of Point of Contention

I chuckled. “Not sure running away and never looking back is a boundary, G.”

“Of course it is. They come in all shapes and sizes, you know.”

Shaking my head, I settled into a chair by the bookshelves. These were Professor Clements’ shelves, but he’d cleared a couple for me when I moved in, and I’d immediately filled them. After years of living here, my collection had spilled over into most of the upstairs attic space, but I kept my two special shelves in this bookshelf supplied with my all-time favorite reads. Running my fingers across the spines, I pulled out a cozy mystery for my mom and set it on the bed beside the towels.

“It’ll be fine,” Greer said again, pulling my attention up to her. “What about everything else? How are you?”

I laughed and raised my hands. “Let’s see. Jobless. Single. Sad.”

“The trifecta.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “I miss him.”

Greer made a face that was something between a scowl and a frown. She wanted to be supportive—I knew her well enough to know that—but she didn’t approve of anything where Cabot was concerned. She shrugged. “It was the right thing to do, Ry. You couldn’t continue seeing him after everything that happened.”

I knew she was right.

Right?

Ending things with Cabot had been the only way forward, but…

It burned that he hadn’t argued, hadn’t tried to convince me I was wrong or shown me what I needed even if I didn’t know myself.

Unless…

Ugh.My heart grew a fresh new ache.

Unless he agreed, and thiswaswhat I needed. What he wanted as well.

“Forget it,” I said, pushing out of the chair. It was easier to deal with this on my own. Nothing she could say would make me feel better, and the last thing I needed was more confirmation that I’d disappointed the people I loved.

Chapter Six

Cabot

Four days since the press conference. The announcement. The break-up.

Four long days without Rylan.

I’d like to say that the ache had abated, but I’d be lying to myself. It only grew worse with each passing moment.

Without her smart mouth in my life, everything had dulled. Without her naked body in my bed, my nights were restless. A woman had never breached the sanctity of my personal space, and now that one had, the absence of her waseverywhere.

My penthouse felt like a model home… attractive at first glance, but upon closer inspection, unlived in.

Empty.

Cold.

My office was just as bad, a constant reminder of the way she’d infiltrated my world and left her mark on me.

Even my desk held the memory of her legs spread wide upon it, her body quaking around my fingers.

Spinning my office chair around, I stared out at the skyline, frustration present in my clenched teeth and the tightening of my shoulders. I’d been reviewing the old applicants for hours and still hadn’t found a suitable replacement for the internship program. Each application I read just irritated me further.

Rylan Blake was this year’s intern and replacing her just didn’t sit well with me. And frankly, the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. She’d thrown away a once-in-lifetime opportunity and in doing so, for the first time, she’d shown her age.

Obviously, I’d known there were quite a few years between us, but until now, until this decision, she hadn’t reminded me of that fact. She hadn’t displayed immaturity that set my teeth on edge.