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She shoved his shoulders, rageher see red “You son of a bitch, you knew, didn’t you? You knehat I’d been offered, so you broke it off”

“I—” He tugged on his collar “Why didn’t you take the job?”

“Answer my question first”

He shook his head, locking gazes with her “No You”

“I’,” she snapped

He cursed under his breath, caught her around the waist, and pressed her against a tree, cradling her the whole time to make sure the bark didn’t hurt her “Damn it, Lyd, yes Yes, I knew, and yes, I lied I lied to you so you’d leave, but you didn’t do it You stayed Why did you stay?”

“I didn’t not take the job because of you, you pompous ass I didn’t take it because I didn’t want to It had nothing—I repeat, nothing—to do with you And even if we’d stayed together, it still would have had nothing to do with you I uy I’ with Who do you think you are?”

“Lydia—”

“Don’t Just don’t You ruined everything And you—”

Without giving her a chance to finish talking—and she had so much she wanted to say—his mouth punished hers with a harsh kiss

It was as if everything he felt, and wanted to say, was in that kiss And it hurt, emotionally, to feel it all Because he’d let her think he didn’t care, when he did Because he’d taken the beautiful thing they’d had, and ruined it Because…because…

Because he was too late

Chapter Seventeen

Holt kissed Lydia, every ive a shit about her fading away to nothing Now that she was in his arain, the world felt as if it was back on its axis She hadn’t gone to Delaware, but it hadn’t been because of hione because she hadn’t wanted to move away from her family

So thatGod