Page 91 of Pretend You Love Me

“I didn't say any of that.”

“Well, you didn’t have to.” She pauses for a moment and then adds, “You didn’t trust me.”

“You didn’t even tell me your real name.” I’m still holding her arm. There’s so much heat between us now.

She yanks her arm back and stomps off to the bathroom. I follow her and watch her stuff toiletries into a bag.

“Brooklyn, you’re overreacting.”

Her eyes jerk over to me, and I think she’s about to hurl a shampoo bottle at my head.

“Let’s just talk,” I say.

She stops moving and closes her eyes. When she opens them, she doesn’t look angry anymore, she just looks sad. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“What doesn’t matter?”

“Any of it.”

I step closer to her. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It was just a fling.” Her eyes are holding onto mine. Each of her words feels like a punch to the gut.

Just a fling?

“We agreed this was temporary. I’m just leaving earlier than we expected.”

Temporary.

It was part of our agreement. It’s what I thought I wanted.

“Probably for the best then,” I say. I’m holding my face still. I don’t want to show her how I’m feeling. Hell, I don’t admit it even to myself. I knew getting involved with her would bite me in the ass. I knew it wouldn’t end well.

There’s a flash of pain across her face, and then she straightens her shoulders and lifts her head up high. “It is, isn’t it?”

I leave her room without another word. The sooner she leaves, the better.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Brooklyn

He let me go without a fight. I know I was mad. I know I said we’d agreed it was temporary, but I thought, maybe, just maybe, he’d fight for me.

I was wrong. It didn’t mean anything. It was just a fling. I move through the next few weeks like a zombie. I feel crushed under the weight of not knowing what is happening with my mom and my sister, andI miss Kip. My heart hurts. My body hurts.

I catch myself thinking about what he’s doing. Is he grumpy? Is he smiling? Is he swimming in the lake or playing with Blue? How’s the restaurant?I spend so much time pushing those thoughts away. It doesn’t matter now. It’s over. Forever.

When I arrive at the White House for the baby shower, James spots me across the room and nods at me to follow him. Once I’m in an office, he shuts the door.

“I have news.” He leans on the edge of the desk and crosses his arms.

I feel a jolt of electricity. News! But before he can tell me, I temper my emotions. I’ve been burned too many times recently.

“We got the DNA match back on the blood.”

My heart starts to pound; I hold my breath.

“It’s not your mother or your sister. There’s no biological match to you.”