Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Scratching the corner of my jaw, I sigh. “It’s my fault, though. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for me.”
“She left you,” Preston says. “She’s the one who walked away.”
“Yeah, but I…” I shift my weight to my other foot, avoiding their gazes.
“But what?” Preston asks.
“I did something I shouldn’t have done. I brought this on all of us.”
“Jamie,” Preston warns.
“What did you do?” Drake finishes.
“Last summer, I hacked through the firewall at her father’s company.”
Preston blows out a puff of air, his nostrils flared. “Why would you do that?”
“Because she stole a game I was working on for my dad and tried to pass it off as her own.”
“I don’t get it.” Drake leans on the arm of the couch, confusion scrolling across his face.
“What are you talking about?” Preston asks. “Cece broke up with you years ago. How could she have known anything about what you were working on to steal it?”
“I fucked up.” I join Preston and Drake on the couch, running a hand through my hair, tugging at the ends. “I did something stupid. I saw her in a forum and wanted to get her attention.”
“What’s it with you and that girl?” Trent says. “You need to let her go. Yeah, she’s hot, but she’s not worth all the bullshit.”
“Don’t go back to her,” Preston pleads. “Go beg Shannon to take your sorry ass back instead. You don’t need Cece. She will only leave after she gets what she wants from you.”
“She said she wants me.”
“That’s what she says every time,” Preston points out. “And you fall for her shit every… damn… time. Don’t do it, J. You deserve better than her.”
“You should talk to her,” Drake says. “Because I want my revenge.”
Tucker smirks. “Me, too.”
Trent agrees.
“Let me handle her,” I say. “I know how to teach Cece a lesson.”
And by handle, I mean avoid. Cece is a narcissist. The only way to get your revenge on a narcissist is to starve them of attention. And I plan to do just that.
Without another word, I exit the living room. It’s time to grovel and beg. Because I have to go after the one person who deserves the biggest apology of all—Shannon.
Chapter Twenty-One
Shannon
I hear feet slamming on the pavement behind me, followed by a man yelling my name. And I know the voice without turning around. It’s Jamie. He jogs up to my right side, not even the slightest bit out of breath.
I continue walking without slowing my pace.
“Can we talk?” he asks, now walking in line with me.
He pushes the hood from his head, a mess of disheveled dark hair underneath. Jamie always looks gorgeous without even trying. My heart slams into my chest as I make eye contact with him. Too many emotions hit me all at once.
“I said everything I had to say,” I tell him.
“But I didn’t,” he counters. “You never let me explain myself.”
“What’s there to say? You have a girlfriend, and I will not be the other woman.”
Jamie grabs my shoulder to stop me, turning my body so we’re facing. “C’mon, Shan. Talk to me. I don’t have a girlfriend. I didn’t have one when we were together. You were my girlfriend. You’re the only woman I want.”
I push my hands to my hips, staring a hole through him. “If that’s true, then why do you keep pictures of your ex? Why do you still keep in contact with her?”
“Look, I’ll be honest with you… I’ll see Cece again, but it won’t be by choice. Her dad’s company is merging with my dad’s. Even if that weren’t happening, I would still see her at gaming conventions. Cece is unavoidable. She’s also The Queen.”
I gasp at his last comment. “Your ex is The Queen?”
He nods. “I finally found The Queen, and after all this time, it was Cece.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I mutter, stunned by his confession. “Why would she do that? She trashed Tucker and Trent more than you. So, what was her end game? Did she date them, too?”
He shakes his head. “No, she was never with any of my friends. She doesn’t like them, never did, and the feeling is mutual. She did it to get my attention because she wants me back. I also think she did it to pay me back for crashing her hard drive at the Gamer Nation Con. But she deserved it.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
Jamie slides his hand up my arm, his fingers causing tiny bumps to dot along my skin in his wake. “Because I miss you, Shan. Because I want to be with you and only you. I’m sorry for everything I put you through. I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you. And I’m hoping you’ll give me one more chance to prove how sorry I am.”