Page 216 of When We Fall: Part Two

“I-I can’t fucking breathe. I can’t breathe,” I choked out as I sat on the bathroom floor of the hotel suite we were still in.

I knew we could go back to the house, but I honestly hated it there and had only gone back long enough to grab some clothes for me and E. I knew at some point I’d have to go in and clean out the fridge and shit. I was considering having one of the minions do it so I could avoid the hellhole altogether.

“It’s OK. It’s OK,” Enzo soothed as I continued to clutch my chest. I’d just spilled my guts into the toilet. My freakout put a kink in Celeste’s dinner date with Enzo. She kept trying to flirt with me all night. I knew the bitch was hoping for some threesome action, but it wasn’t ever going to fucking happen unless it was me ramming my knife into her cunt until she stopped breathing.

“It’s not fucking OK!” I shouted. “He was touching her under the table! I saw it! Fuck! You saw it. Then they were kissing! And look!” I fumbled with my phone as I pulled up her social media and shoved the picture of them together in his face.

“See? See that motherfucker! Says date night!” I continued to suck in breath after breath. “You promised! You fucking promised me! I can’t do this.”

I tried to get to my feet, but Enzo shoved me down.

“Stop. Stop! Cole, stop.” He said, pinning me down onto the cold floor.

“Fuck you! I’m going to get her?—”

“Remember why we’re doing this! Fucking remember!” He shook me.

I sucked in another breath, my heart in my throat.

“It won’t matter if she falls i-in love with someone else. It won’t matter.”

He released me, and I sat up, wiping at my eyes.

“Why don’t you care, man? You didn’t even care. The whole time that prick was with her, touching her, kissing her, you didn’t care.”

Enzo sighed and sat beside me.

“I care so much it’s ripping my heart to pieces,” he whispered. “But I have a part to play, so I’m doing it. Besides, did you look at her face?”

I was quiet, thinking about how pretty she looked. How happy. How… alive.

“She was smiling,” I managed to say.

“Yeah. She was smiling. She hasn’t smiled in a long time. If we bring her back now, the smile will go away again because we aren’t ready for her. Not yet. Let’s finish what we started, OK? We’re so close, man. We are.”

I nodded. I knew he was right, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

“It won’t last anyway. I had my guys look into Ryder Romano. He’s a player. He’s there for a good time, not a long time,” Enzo continued.

“That’s even worse,” I groaned. “That was literally me before Rosalie. You know how much pussy I smashed.”

“All I’m saying is he’s not the sort of guy she’d settle down with. She’s just…”

“What? Trying to make us jealous?” I scoffed. “Enzo, they were there when we walked in. They didn’t know we’d be there. She posted on her Instagram before she even left.”

“I know,” he murmured.

Then it clicked.

“You knew,” I said, staring wide-eyed at him. “You fucking knew she was going out. Ryder replied to someone when they asked where they were going. She tagged the location too. You fucking knew! That’s why we had a change of plans! What the fuck, man?”

“I wanted her to see us out,” Enzo admitted. “I didn’t want her to have any doubts that what we were doing wasn’t real. I knew.”

“You’re fucked up.” I shook my head. “Are you trying to ruin everything?”

“I’m trying to save it. Even if it hurts. Even if it fucking kills me inside. I can’t get her words out of my head, man. She said it should have been me. It should have been. I’ve been thinking about it since the moment it happened. Fox was ten times the man I’ll ever be. And she hates me. She fucking hates me. I-I accept that. I need that, but fuck, it hurts me too, so don’t think you’re the only one suffering here. You’re not. Just please. Head in the game. Focus.”

I swallowed. “I can’t guarantee I’m not going to do something stupid if I see her out with another guy again. And if it’s Ass Hat? I’ll kill him. I don’t fucking care.”