“Why did you have to bring him here?” I hurl at her.
“I—I didn’t know,” she stutters.
I don’t have time to stick around for the rest of her response. I need to catch up to Kayden before he bails.
Scurrying out of the tent, I sprint through the gardens and to the parking lot where his truck is located, catching up to him just as he’s prying the door open.
“Wait!” I yell, desperation leaking out of me like an open, unattended wound.
But he just ignores me. Gets into the truck anyway. I wedge my foot in the door to stop him from closing it. He mutters a frazzled curse and forces himself to look at me.
“You’re not leaving until we talk this out,” I say determinedly.
“Fine. Let’s talk,” he snaps, climbing out of his truck and slamming the door behind him. “Is what Jax said true? That you’re using me to get back at him?”
A knot forms in my throat at the tormented expression of his features. “I thought that was our deal.”
Definitely not the answer that Kayden wanted to hear.
His throat bobs in pain. “So all of it, what we shared together, was a lie then?”
“No. Of course it’s real,” I insist. He scoffs at my answer in disbelief. Now I’m the one who’s frustrated. “I just . . . I didn’t expect to fall for you, Kayden. I didn’t plan for any of this to happen.”
“Well, neither did I! But I thought that our relationship was more important to you than Jax! I thought you were done with him.” Hurt crosses his beautiful, sculpted face.
His voice drops to a low mutter. “You know what? Perhaps I was right about you all along. You were using me from the start. I was just too blinded by it all to figure it out.”
I struggle to contain another rush of anger. There he goes again with his paranoia and doubt.
“You break my heart, Kayden, saying that shit,” I say sharply. “If you genuinely think that I’ve been masterminding a relationship with you from the start, then you really don’t know me at all, do you?”
“Then, please tell me. What the hell are we doing here?”
He takes a daring step toward me; any closer and we’ll be chest to chest. And I wish we could be. It feels like we’re drifting further away from each other despite being so close.
Kayden’s tone grows soft and uncertain. “I know I said I love you, and you haven’t said it back, and I would never want to pry it out of you like this but I at least have to know: Do you have feelings for me?”
Sadness nips at my throat at the thought of him doubting me. I did that to him.
I love you, Kayden, I want to say, my entire body wanting to burst forth with the declaration. I love you, I love you, Ilove you—
“You know I do, Kayden,” I say despite the strain in my throat. “You have my whole goddamned heart.”
“Do I real y? I doubt that. Not all of it, anyway. I share it with him.” He spits out the last word bitterly. “You may not love Jax anymore, but your hatred for him drives everything you do. And unless you let it go, I’ll never be a priority.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is. And you know it too.” Kayden’s Adam’s apple bobs as he stares at me again. He lets out another long exhale, pushing his hair back with his hands as he tries to gather his thoughts. When his gaze shifts back to me, his expression is wounded.
“What if I lose tomorrow, Sienna?” He whispers.
I shake my head fervently. The past two months of grueling training has given me enough confidence that he won’t lose tomorrow. I have never entertained the possibility of a loss. I don’t want to.
“You won’t lose.”
“I might,” he says quietly. “Come on, Sienna. You heard Jax. I just showed my hand. What if he uses that to his advantage tomorrow night and wins that championship?”
I pull away from him, refusing to give him an answer.