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  He blinks at me. “I did before she decided to spread a whole fuckton of lies about me. I have been honest, and I have been real with her. I made sure she was satisfied, and we were okay, but not anymore,” he says. His face is so red. He hates being lied to, and most of all, he hates being made to look dumb. “Grace, she said she’ll be moving in here by the end of the month!”

  I balk at that. “Whoa, no. This is my place.”

  “Exactly!”

  James looks at me with concern in his eyes, and I shrug. “So you’re gonna break it off with her?”

  “Absolutely. I am.”

  “Wonderful,” I groan, letting my head fall back against James’s chest. “Just wonderful.”

  “What?” James and Shea ask at the same time.

  “Not to sound selfish and only worrying about myself, but she’ll fire me as soon as you break up with her.”

  “No, she said she wouldn’t,” Shea insists.

  I shake my head, but before I can disagree with him, James says, “No, she will. She’s catty like that. If she truly believes y’all are destined for marriage—and I can guarantee she does—she’ll fire Grace to get back at you.”

  Shea falls back against his recliner. “Why did I even hook up with this chick?”

  “I think it was the boobs,” I offer.

  “Or the ass. He’s an ass man.”

  “Yes, you’re right. It’s the fake ass.” I flash James a wink as he laughs. “Can’t you find a real ass? Usually they’re attached to nice, sweet girls.”

  Shea doesn’t laugh. He looks stricken. “I’m sorry, sis.”

  I wave him off, hoping to alleviate some of his distress. “I’ll figure something out. Hopefully I can find a place to hire me until I can start my own business.”

  We sit in silence, each lost in our own thoughts. Until James says, “Why don’t you just start your own business?”

  I glance over at him. “Because you need capital, and I don’t have that.”

  “I’ll give it to you,” he says without hesitation. “I’ll fire Jackie from doing my stagings in favor of you, and I can get you plenty of charity benefits to plan. It could be very successful for you.”

  Why does this guy continue to leave me speechless? “James, be real.”

  “What?”

  “You don’t give a girl you’ve only known for a little over a month the capital to start a company and then throw her all of your business. That’s insane.”

  He doesn’t seem to agree. “Of course you do. You’d do anything for the person you love.”

  My jaw drops. For real, drops, and if it wasn’t attached, I think it might have hit the floor. James’s eyes widen, which means I heard him wrong. Right? Right. Holy mother of all things holy! “Excuse me?” I squawk out.

  He blinks. “What?”

  “I should go,” Shea says as he gets up. “This is obviously a moment.”

  We both ignore him as I ask, “What did you say?”

  “About what?”

  “Oh, dude, just own up to it,” Shea says as he rushes off, but I don’t see him go. I can’t look anywhere but into James’s eyes.

  “You know about what,” I say, getting up and gawking down at him. “What do you mean ‘You’d do anything for the person you love?’ What does that mean? Are you talking about me?” With each word, my voice gets higher. My chest feels as if it’s caving in on itself, and I really don’t know what the hell is happening here.

  He pushes the recliner down, standing up with his hands out to me. “Calm down. You’re shaking.”

  “Yes, because I’m pretty sure you just said you loved me, and that can’t be. We’ve only been together a month. We’re just fucking—”

  “Oh, come on, Grace,” Shea yells from the other room.

  James points to where Shea’s voice came from. “Seriously. You know we’re more than fucking. We’re option two.”

  “Whoa,” I say, panic attacking me from the inside out. “We are not option two.”

  “Yes, we are,” he says simply, and I shake my head.

  “No, it’s been a month, James. We are only dating.”

  “No, we’re together. I asked you to be my girlfriend. That means we see if this works so we can be more.”

  “No. It’s so you don’t fuck anyone else but me.”

  “Grace! Come on.”

  “No, for real. You haven’t even tried to put it in my ass. You’re supposed to want to put it in my ass.”

  “What in the hell?” he says around his laughter. “What does that have to do with it?”

  “Guys like you want anal sex.”

  “Guys like me? What the fuck?” he yells, his brows touching. “But also, I grabbed an ass cheek once, and you freaked, saying, ‘Keep it out of my ass, buddy’—”

  “So! You’re supposed to ignore that and try to do it anyway!”

  “Are you fucking insane?” Shea calls, and I glare down the hall.

  “Shut the hell up, Adler!”

  I look back at James, and he’s scrutinizing me. The way he should because I’m shitty. “Wow. You really don’t know how to be loved, do you? To be respected.”

  My lip starts to wobble. “I’m not lovable.”

  “You are,” he insists, taking a step toward me, but I step back.

  “I’m not.”

  His eyes darken as the tears spill down my cheeks. He crosses his arms over his chest. “When you said you’d been fucked over, I didn’t think anything of it. But man, Grace, you weren’t kidding.”

  “You deserve better.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you assume I deserve, because I want you.”

  “You shouldn’t—”

  “But I do, because I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment you puked all over the side of the condo. I just didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to lose you.”

  “Good call, man,” Shea hollers.

  This time, it’s James who yells, “Dude, shut up!”

  “Sorry.”

  I wipe my face jerkily as a sob moves through my chest. “Just go.”

  “What?” James asks, his voice breaking. “You’re serious?”

  “James, seriously. You deserve someone who would be a good option two. I don’t even know if I’m a good option one, and I sure as hell didn’t know you wanted option two. Crap, a little heads-up would have been nice.”

  His eyes are panicked. “Grace, you’re the only option I want,” he pleads, and my heart can’t take it.

  “Please, just go.”

  “Grace, baby—”

  “No. Go,” I demand without looking at him.

  He doesn’t move, and neither do I. “Can I call you tomorrow?”

  “No,” I answer without thinking because it’s the only way to end this. Cut-and-dried. No pain. Just end it. “It’s better this way.”

  “I really believe you need a night to think this over before you throw this away,” he suggests, but I shake my head.

  “If I don’t end it now, you’ll stay with me, and you’ll see I’m no option at all. Then you’ll cheat, and I’ll be broken. At least this way, we’re both not too invested. I’m doing this for you.”

  “Grace—”

  “Just go, James. Please,” I say, wiping my face once more. When he doesn’t move, I shake my head, turning on my heel and heading for my room. I shut the door, locking it because I hear him coming toward it. I fall face first onto my bed as a sob rips from my soul.

  But dammit, my bed smells like him.

  “Grace, please don’t do this.”

  I ignore him.

  “I love you, and it’s okay that you don’t love me. You will.”

  “Just go,” I yell, and then I bury my face in the covers as my sobs fill the room. I don’t know why I’m crying. I wanted this. I pushed him away, but it hurts. It hurts so bad, but I refuse to let him hurt me when he realizes I’m not enough.

  A few minutes pass, and I roll onto my back, holding my stomach as I