Thetone of his voice made my skin crawl as I wondered what he meant by that. Wasshe screwing him? Nausea steamrolled over me at the thought.
Tabby’sface fell, and she shook her head as she rushed toward him. “Roman, you can’tpossibly expect me to cutallties with him, just for us to continue …”Her words trailed off, and I felt the slightest bit of triumph in knowing thatshe would at least stand firmly against removing me from her life.
“Well,then, I’m sorry, but—”
“Areyou kidding me?” Her voice was shrill, strained against her frustration andanger. “Roman, I will understand if you never want to go on another date withme, but are you seriously going to destroy our working relationship because ofhim?”She thrust a trembling hand in my direction and her fingertips brushed againstmy chest. Her voice was wavering—she was going to cry—and all I wished to dowas hug her. Or punch him. Whichever.
“Thereare other houses and other realtors out there,” he stated firmly.
Iwas immediately stunned by his willingness to throw everything away. The house,the partnership. The girl. “You’re un-fucking-believable, you know that?” I growled,turning to face him. “Everything isthatdisposable to you?”
Heshook his head and straightened his tie, but he was silent as he walked awayinto the parking garage. And then, Tabby and I were alone. Her tears fellsilently over her cheeks, dripping from her chin and onto the concrete floor.
Itouched her shoulder. “Tabby, I’m—”
Shestepped away from my touch, glaring at me with a watery, cold stare. “You hadno right, Sebastian. You hadno rightto talk to him the way you did. Hell,you had no right to talk to himat all!”
“Ididn’t like the way he was talking to you,” I reasoned, pulling my hand back,crossing my arms and clutching at my sides. “He can’t treat you like a piece ofgarbage because of who you decide to spend time with, Tabby. Is thatreallythe type of guy you want?”
“Youdon’t get to decide how people talk to me, Sebastian. Nobody gets to decidethat but me,” she snapped.
“Yeah,well, maybe someoneshould,” I spat back, “and maybe that someone shouldbeme.”
Shakingher head, she took a step back toward the street. “It will never be you, andthis is exactly why. You’re incapable of biting your tongue and being an adult.You just can’t do it, and maybe in your world, that’s fine, but in mine? It’snot.”
“Ifthis is about what happened with Roman, then I will fix—”
“FuckRoman,” she replied bitterly. “But fuck you also, for ruining my business dealafter I’ve been trying to sell that goddamn house for nearly a year. That wasmy last shot at it. Did you know that? I told Alex that if I couldn’t sell itto Roman, I’d give it up to him, so I guess that’s that. Thank you so much.”
Guiltstricken, I thrust a hand through my hair. “Tabby …”
Sheuttered a groan of frustration. “God, Sebastian, why couldn’t you just,foronce,keep your mouth shut?” With that, she turned around andhurried toward the street.
Iclenched my eyes shut, shaking my head as I struggled for the words that wouldmake her stop, and just like that, they came to me.
“BecauseI fucking love you, Tabby!” I called after her, and she did stop. She turnedaround and took one apprehensive step back toward me.
“Youwhat?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Was she angry?
“Ilove you,” I repeated, finding it easier to say now that it was out in theopen.
Tabbypulled her lips between her teeth as another tear slipped over her cheek. Sheshook her head and raked her fingers through her wild red hair. “Sebastian, youneed to stop.”
“Stoploving you?” I laughed bitterly. “Trust me, if I could’ve stopped this fromhappening, I would’ve. I’m not supposed to want one woman for the rest of mylife. I’m not supposed to want a fucking picket fence and family dinners and …I don’t know,date night. But here I am, ready to throw everything awayand start over, and Iwantthat, Tabby. I want it so fucking badly, andI want it with you, and Greyson, and—”
“I’llsay it again.” Her voice was trembling, and her hands were held out as thoughbracing herself against my affectionate assault. “Youneedto stop.”
Iwas serving my heart to her on a platter, and she was turning it away. Fuckinghell. Why did this have to hurt so much? And why the fuck would anybody wishfor this, in the way people always seem to?
Fucklove. Fuckthis.
“Youcan’t make me stop,” I told her, shaking my head and wondering how I still hadthe strength to stand.
“Yes,I can.” She said it as a warning, taking another step forward to press her handto my chest. Pressing it against my heart, as though with one little push, shecould thrust her bones through mine and squeeze the organ that begged to die.She tipped her head back, finding my gaze, and whispered, “When.”
***
When.
