揌ow did you mean it? The same way you stopped just short of calling my place a shithole??I fold my arms, glaring.
揑 don抰 think bad things about you or people on the streets. I just don抰 need my teenage daughter taking any chances with her safety before she抯 old enough to decide what she wants.?He stuffs his hands in his pockets, fixing his gaze on me.
I scoff. 揥hatever. You know the biggest ways girls from affluent families get hurt is usually with an insider, right? A bad family member, a friend…？
揟hat抯 not what I meant. She just got robbed, Eliza. Can you cool it with your smartass lectures??He looks up at the ceiling, his jaw so tense it could pop. 揑 told you, I worry about you here, too. So, yeah, of course I wonder about my daughter抯 safety in this neighborhood. Today is proof I抦 right.?
揑 don抰 need to be rescued from poverty, Cole. Go use your superhero act on someone who cares.?I抳e been way more broke than this, but right now, I don抰 feel like saying it. I point to the hallway again. 揃ye.?
He starts walking, keeping his head down like a scolded cat.
I slam the door behind him and lock up, pressing my back to the thick wood.
There抯 only one thing left to do now.
Collapse on my bed and cry.
I am so, so stupid.
I knew better than to get involved with another stuck-up suit who thinks he craps diamonds. He didn抰 play me quite like Derek, but did he play me?
And wasn抰 it my own fault for ever thinking he抎 stoop down to care about an average, unfancy girl like me?
Why do I do it? Why?
I fell too hard, too fast, and with no idea how to pick myself up again.
An hour later, my phone pings.
Maybe it抯 Cole.
Though the logical part of my brain quickly remembers it抯 better if it isn抰。
I tap the screen anyway, holding my breath.
Cole: Will I see you at work on Monday?
Ah, work. His precious brand. That would be what he cares about and not the glass heart he just punched into dust.
Eliza: Who cares? Your scorched line梥orry 揷ampfire敆is basically good to go. Pat yourself on the back and call it a day.
Cole: So, you won抰 be in?
Oh my God. I抦 about to find a way to break the laws of physics so I can reach through the screen and smack him.
Do you check up on all of your employees on Saturday nights to verify their Monday plans? I send back bitterly.
Ha. It takes him a solid minute to respond to that one.
Cole: Only the ones I love.
Oof.
Mammoth freaking oof.
He loves me? After all of this? And he has to say it now after slamming the door in my face?
I hate how I get all squishy inside. I guess the joke is on me after all and I抦 the one who抯 playing myself with these men.
Eliza: How do they usually answer?
Cole: So far, they抮e not very forthcoming.
Eliza: I might need a wellness day. Mostly so I can get an appointment with my employment lawyer to file a harassment suit.
Cole: You抮e not serious?
I抦 not, but the joke抯 on him.
Eliza: We抣l see. Depends on if I survive the many horrors waiting outside my front door. Do I need a bodyguard for that?
Cole: Eliza, if you were a parent, you抎 understand.
Eliza: LOL. Right. Because it抯 not like I care about her or anything.
Cole: I抦 out. I tried to be reasonable.
Eliza: Only because your head is that far up your ass.
At least he抯 a man of his word.
Because he doesn抰 respond to that last hit.
He just leaves me alone in this chasm of silence where I wonder how much of that was hot air梐nd how much he ever loved me, after all.
20
Bad Cuppa （Cole）
The next morning, I knock on Destiny抯 door, feeling like the biggest walking shitpile alive.
揇ess??
Silence.
Swearing, I bang on the door with my fist a few times, but she doesn抰 answer. I hold my ear to the door until I hear her breathing.
She抯 alive in there, at least.
Eliza抯 backbone must be rubbing off. Destiny was never this bad with the stone-cold silent treatment.
Worst of all, I know I deserve it after what went down.
Still, I don抰 do well with games.
I抎 like to un-fuck my status as everybody抯 favorite villain.
揇ess, open up.?I wait another minute before I sigh and say, 揑抳e got my Swiss army knife. If I don抰 think you抮e okay in there, I抣l pull this door right off its hinges.?
揇ad! You抮e ridiculous.?
I pull out my knife for show while I hear her stomping over. I wouldn抰 actually take her door off梕ven I抦 not that big a prick梑ut it抯 better for her to wonder.
She tears the door open, glaring at me with her lips pursed.
揥hen it抯 important, I need you to answer,?I say neutrally.