“Thanks.” Nate waited for his father to disappear up the stairs before he entered the living room, where Kris stood by the front door.
He closed the distance between them, battling twin urges to run in the other direction and to crush her to his chest and never let go. “Kris, what are—”
“How much?” Her eyes blazed with fury. He’d never seen her this angry—not when he broke up with her, not even when a passerby jostled her and caused her to spill her drink over her favorite top.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Fuck, it was hot in here. He should’ve turned on the A/C, but he’d wanted to cut down on the utility bill.
“How much, Nate?” Kris stepped forward until there was less than an inch of space between them. “How much money did my father give you to break up with me?”
A roar filled his ears.
Double fuck.She found out. She was never meant to find out.
“Kris—”
“How much?” she screamed, no trace of her usual cool, composed self in sight. She was all fire, and her anger seared through Nate’s skin, scorching bone. But beneath the rage, he sensed a raw pain that twisted his gut. “How much was our relationship worth?”
“$50,000,” he said quietly. There was no use lying anymore.
Those huge dark eyes of hers shone bright before a tear slipped down her cheek and shattered him. Before he knew it, Nate had yanked her to his chest and buried his face in her hair, wishing he could erase her pain. He could handle her fury, but he couldn’t handle her hurt.
“Don’t touch me.” Hate infused her tone. “Don’tfuckingtouch me.”
Kris tried pushing him away, but he held on tight, rubbing circles on her back and whispering soothing words until she went limp in his arms.
Goddammit, how did she find out? He couldn’t imagine Roger saying anything, but unless the other man told someone, he and Nate were the only ones privy to what went down in his study the other night.
Kris finally shoved him off, but her petite frame continued to tremble. She was so independent and tough that she usually appeared larger than life, but right now, she looked unbearably fragile, and there were dark smudges beneath her eyes, like she hadn’t been sleeping well.
Agony sliced through him. Seeing Kris hurt cut him deeper than any blade could.
“I trusted you,” she said. Flat. Monotone. No trace of her earlier fire.
“It’s not what you think.” Nate shoved a hand through his hair, his chest swimming with regret and sorrow. “Your father offered me the money. I didn’t take it.”
“So it’s a coincidence he offered you $50K to break up with me, and twenty-four hours later, you did just that. Next, you’ll tell me you have a bridge to sell me.”
God, he’d handled this all wrong. If they awarded Idiot of the Year prizes, he’d sweep the whole category.
“I didn’t break up with you because of the money.”
“Right. You broke up with me because we’re not the ‘right fit.’” She placed the words in quotation marks. “You might as well have pulled the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ card.”
“Itisme.” Nate scrubbed a hand over his face, frustrated. He wished he had more time to cobble his thoughts together in a somewhat coherent fashion, but since he didn’t, the words spilled out, fast and furious. “The night of the dinner party, your father pulled me aside and made the offer. I swear on my mother’s grave that I didn’t accept a cent from him, but some of the things he said…made sense.”
Kris crossed her arms, stony-faced. “Like?”
“Like how we’re from different worlds, and how we don’t fit. I know,” he said when she opened her mouth to argue. “You don’t care about that stuff now, but our relationship is new. What happens when the honeymoon period ends? You’re an heiress, you’re about to graduate from a great school, and you have your entire future in front of you. I’m a college dropout barely making ends meet and in a career that’s going nowhere. I have no idea what to do in fancy situations like the dinner party the other night. If we do the long-distance thing, I can’t even visit you that often—not only because I can’t spend that much on flights, but because I’m freakin’ terrified of flying. It’s gotten a little better after our flight day, yeah, but I am not at the point where I can just jump on a plane at the word ‘go.’ You would’ve had to put in most of the effort, the same way you would’ve had to either pay for everything or give up your lifestyle to accommodate me. I can’t do that to you, and I don’t want us to resent each other down the line.”
Nate’s voice cracked. “You should be with someone who you’d be proud to be seen with. Someone who can live life with you the way you deserve, and who your father approves of. I know your relationship with him isn’t the greatest, but he wants the best for you, even if he shows it in a fucked-up way. You don’t need me driving a bigger wedge between the two of you. And the thing is…I would’ve stayed by your side right up to the deadline because I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you. I thought you wanted us to stay a summer fling. Hoped you did, because even though it would’ve killed me, I at least knew you’d move on. But when you told me you wanted a long-distance relationship…” He swallowed hard. “I couldn’t do that to you. I thought it would be easier to cut things off earlier before…”
“Before what? Before I fell in love with you?” Kris’s features hardened. “Too late.”
He was making a bigger mess of things. Did what he said even—
Wait.What?