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“Oh shit,” Avery murmured, realizing the severity of the situation. “Call me later, Sev.”

As Avery hung up, Sevyn attempted to think of something to say. Her brain had seemingly turned into a pile of mush. The longer Dallas glared at her, the quicker the last bit of her courage fled.

“Repeat the end of your phone conversation for me,” he demanded, leaning against the doorway.

Licking her dry lips, Sevyn opened and closed her mouth. What was there for her to say?

“Dallas—”

“Don’t Dallas me,” he cut in coldly. “Use your words. You seemed to have a hell of a lot to say when you were gossiping with your friends.”

“It wasn’t like that!”

The bitterness of his laugh let her know that he wasn’t buying it. “What wasn’t like what, Sevyn?”

“Okay,” she exhaled deeply, holding up her hands. “Just listen to me for a second. I don’t know what all you heard, but if you could give me a moment to explain–”

“What I heard was you talking to your friend about how you planned on playing me. So, what? All of this time we’ve been spending together was a joke to you? Something you go back to Ave and Lorren to gossip and laugh about?”

“No!” she nearly shouted, wishing that she could take back the past fifteen minutes of her life. “Okay, look, I didn’t have the best intentions coming into this and I can own that but those feelings didn’t last. Everything that I’ve told you this week has been genuine.”

Dallas laughed humorlessly. “As much as I’d love for you to be telling the truth, I don’t believe a damn thing that you say. You win, Sev. I got your message loud and clear. I’m done.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach. “Wait!” Sevyn launched forward to grab his arm.

Shrugging her off, Dallas pinned her beneath a lethal stare but didn’t speak.

“That’s not what I want–”

“Do you even know what you want, Sevyn?” he demanded, cutting her off. “It doesn’t seem like it from where I’m standing.”

Wringing her hands, Sevyn struggled to think of what to say that would make sense. She came up blank.

“I know that I love you.”

It was the first time she’d admitted it out loud to him. Though it wasn’t the ideal time and place, Sevyn couldn’t waste time thinking about her pride. For the second time, she was faced with the idea of Dallas walking away from her, and this time, it would break her.

Her anxiety grew with each passing moment that he stood staring at her, without responding to her declaration.

“Dallas,” Sevyn wiped the back of her hand across a runny nose, trying to pull herself together. “You can be as upset with me as you want, but please don’t leave without giving me a chance to fix this.”

The corners of his mouth dropped as the two remained engaged in an intense staring contest.

“You know,” Dallas finally replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “Despite all of the bullshit, I used to be so sure that we were in love too. Even though we couldn’t get it together, I had faith that it would work out because nothing worth having comes easily, right? But this?”

Sevyn’s eyes leaked as the severity of the situation finally started to sink in. “Dal.”

“We can’t even get on the same page long enough to get this shit off the ground,” he continued as if he hadn’t heard her at all. “I’m tired of fighting you, and I’m tired of fighting with you. Things that are meant to be shouldn’t have to be this hard.”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, cheeks wet from the flood of tears.

Gently pulling her into a hug, Dallas held on for a moment before pulling back just enough to kiss her forehead. Taking it as a sign that they had a small chance to get past what she’d done, Sevyn exhaled slowly.

“I’m sorry too, Sev,” Dallas replied, letting go of her.

Sevyn stood rooted in place as he walked out of her bedroom. The pain cutting through her, so intense, it nearly snatched her breath. Clutching her midsection, she sank onto her bed pressing a palm against her forehead as she sobbed.

“What the fuck did I just do?”