Emmett’s eyes closed for a second, and when they opened back up, I swore I could see into his soul. “For once in your life, stop thinking about others. Stop trying to decide what you should choose for your parents, or Derek, or even me. I’m asking you to choose for you.”
That was when the rest of the unshed tears traveled down my face. They landed right on his hand still resting on my chin, but he didn’t dare move it.
“If marrying Derek is what you want… and if that makes you happy, then I’ll walk away right now.” Emmett’s eyes were shining with the harsh truth, even if the words killed him to say. He took my chin and angled it up even more, his lips so close I could almost touch him. “But my God, Fallon, if being with me is what you want, then just do it. Do it for you. No one else.”
I said nothing. I couldn’t speak, because either way, I was going to break.
We both knew this was unavoidable. We both knew my life was complicated. We both knew we were getting too close, falling too deep. And now look at us.
We were both shattered.
I sniffed and closed my eyes. For a moment, I almost shut the world out and pressed my lips to his, but the only thing that would have done is put off reality for another minute.
My words were shaky. My world felt like it was crumbling.
My heart felt void.
“I can’t, Emmett.” And in that instant, Emmett’s hand left my chin. I gasped and felt my world go dark.
He said nothing. He turned around and walked over to the driver’s side door of his car and slid inside. It was that quick. No protesting. No asking me why I couldn’t be with him. He just took my answer and walked away.
So I did the same. I climbed in the passenger seat, unable to ev
en look in his direction. My heart hurt. My head was spinning. My eyes were leaking. Everything felt out of control, but I knew that I’d made the right decision.
We didn’t speak another word to each other the entire three-hour drive back to Chestnut Springs.
Once we got to my house, Emmett put the car into park and looked out the window. The atmosphere in the car could have frozen all of Hell in an instant. I swear it.
I placed my hand on the doorknob, but before I slid out of the car, I couldn’t stop the words from falling out of my mouth.
“Emmett. My father said if—”
Emmett’s dark eyes cut over to me in an instant. He put his hand up and shook his head before his gravelly voice floated throughout. “Don’t call me when you’re lonely and depressed in years to come, Fallon.” Tears sprang to my eyes so fast I was honestly surprised. “I told you in the very beginning that the moment we were done… we were truly done. I gave you a chance, and you decided not to take it. So don’t call me when you need a reminder that you were once happy and full of life, okay?”
The sad thing was, I couldn’t even be angry at what he was saying. He wasn’t being mean or spiteful. The tone in his voice wasn’t laced with anger. His words were pained, his eyes darker than normal, his shoulders tense.
He was hurting, and I knew I had to leave it that way. I’d planned to tell him what my father said. That he’d destroy him one way or another. That he’d somehow find a way to end Emmett’s business, his livelihood. So that way, maybe he’d understand that I wasn’t choosing Derek over him. I wasn’t choosing my parents over him. I wasn’t even choosing me over him. I was choosing him and only him. It just wasn’t the way he wanted.
But instead of saying any of those things, I grabbed my bag and slid out of the car.
If he hated me, that was better.
It’d maybe make it a little less hard.
For him, at least.
Chapter Twenty
Emmett
I watched the minutes on the clock tick by.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Time was moving slow but fast at the same time. It had been several days since the most unforgettable—and shortest—road trip of my life. I gave Fallon an ultimatum. One that we both knew was going to happen eventually.
Who the hell was I kidding when I started this shit with her? Telling myself that it was fine. That I could play it cool. That I wouldn’t get lost in her.