Serves Me Wright (Wright #9) - K.A. Linde Page 0,90
full on. He opened and closed his mouth. Then it all cleared in his face as he saw exactly what I’d said. “I…I’m not. I’m not him.” He reached for me again, snagging my hand and pulling it to him. “Jen, please.”
And I wanted so badly to give in to him. Julian Wright was the boy I’d pined after. Who I’d always said that I wasn’t good enough for. But standing here, after all the bullshit I’d walked through, I was realizing that maybe I’d been wrong all along. Maybe he wasn’t good enough for me.
I’d spent my life tiptoeing around the word no. I hated saying it. I couldn’t say it. I wasn’t capable of it. I was a pushover, and I complied with what everyone else wanted. I’d never found my own voice. But if this summer had taught me anything, it was that I had to stick up for myself to get what I wanted and to get the respect I deserved. In my friendships, in my career, and now, in my relationship.
“No,” I said softly.
“What?”
“No,” I said more forcefully. I extracted my hand. “No, no, no, no, no. And no.”
“No what?”
“No to everything. No, I’m not going to just get over this. No, I’m not going to stay and listen to you try to dig yourself out of the grave that you dug yourself. No, I don’t owe you an explanation. So, just no, Julian. No.”
He stared at me, slack-jawed. He’d never seen me like this before. And that was okay because I’d never seen me like this before either. I kind of liked me like this, to be honest.
So, I stepped back and left him standing in the driveway. I got into the passenger side, and Annie had wide eyes.
“How much did you hear?” I asked as she pulled away.
“Uh…everything.” She touched my hand. “Are you okay?”
“No.”
The word rolled off of my tongue again as the realization of what I’d done finally sank in. Then I started crying and didn’t stop for a long, long time.
38
Julian
Jennifer had left.
She’d left with Annie and not even looked back.
I’d done this.
My head felt like someone had split it in two with an ax. My stomach wasn’t doing much better. Every nerve in my body was on high alert. I was hungover as fuck. And yet, it was my heart that hurt the worst.
Worst of all because I had done this to myself. I’d driven Jen to make this decision. I’d never heard her speak like she had just spoken to me. And I’d deserved every word of it. Fuck.
And I couldn’t even go after her. One, I shouldn’t drive right now. She had been right about that. Two, I had that fucking breakfast with Jordan and Weston. I’d already been deeply not looking forward to it. Now, I wanted nothing less. And finally, she didn’t want me to. She’d made that clear. I had to give her space even if it was the last thing I wanted to do.
I headed back inside to find Ashleigh sitting at the kitchen island on her phone with the leather notebook in front of her, as if nothing had happened.
“You should leave,” I spat.
She held one finger up as she finished her text. I thought about taking her phone out of her hand and throwing it into the yard.
She looked up. “Sorry, what, babe?”
“I am not your babe. We are not together. You have no right to barge into my house ever. Ever.”
She just smiled. “Well, I tried calling you.”
“As I told you Friday, my phone is broken.”
“Still? That’s so irresponsible.”
I took a deep inhale. “Get out of my house, Ashleigh.”
“Okay, but first, let’s talk about the distribution meeting. I talked to George and explained the situation. So, we have another meeting with him today via Zoom. Let’s get you into a suit and get this wrapped up.”
I stared at her as if she’d sprouted an antenna. “Did you not hear a word I just said? I want you out of here.”
“Julian, baby,” she said, stepping up to me, “what’s important right now is the business. We can discuss what we’re going to do after we figure out this distribution issue. Together, we’re such a powerful team.”
“You know what, Ashleigh? I just realized something. Something I should have figured out a long time ago.”
“Hmm?”
“If I have to work with you to get this settled, then it isn’t worth it.”