I swallowed. “You don’t mean that.”
His face flushed and his handsome features twisted with anger. “Don’t tell me what I mean and what I don’t. You don’t know what’s inside my head,” he ground out between clenched teeth.
I laid a palm against his hard chest, easing him back, but he jerked his hand up and brushed away mine like it was an insect.
“Wil—”
“No, you’re right. Why would I want someone who would just leave when things got difficult? You’re absolutely right.”
He may as well have slapped me. I blinked and my eyes stung.
“But—”
“No need to explain yourself. You’ve been honest from the beginning. You’re here for one reason only. You need your tiara.”
My mouth dropped open. “It might have been the reason at first, but—”
He held his palm up to stop me. “You don’t need to spare my feelings. It’s been a clear-cut deal from the start. I was wrong to expect more from you.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “It means that you don’t need to waste any more time rehabilitating me. There’s less than a week left. I’ll either fail or succeed without you.”
Blood drained from my face in the wake of his anger. “But I want—”
“No need to humor me either. I’ll get your tiara back and then we won’t have to see each other.”
I blinked. “I’m not seeing you because I have to, and I know—”
He spun and walked away before I could finish… I know you’ll succeed, Wil. I believe in you.
I felt like the floor had been yanked out from under me. “Wil—please don’t be angry.”
He shook his head. “It just…it hurts.”
I ached at the thought of not seeing him again. I tried not to examine what this gaping hole-like sensation in the middle of my chest meant.
He stopped at the doorway and turned back to me. “I don’t like this feeling, Jenna. I won’t do it anymore. You say I’m worthy to be loved. But apparently not by you.”
The air rushed out of my chest. “That’s not true. You are…and I’m…but I can’t. Because I honestly believe that I met my soulmate already. And he died so—”
“That makes it easy.”
Suddenly, my face flushed hot. I tried to tell myself that he was acting out because of hurt feelings, but that didn’t give him the right to lash out at me like this. “There’s nothing easy about it, Wil. I’m resigned that—”
“In your mind, he’s perfect. The perfect lover, the perfect partner. And nothing will ever contradict that because he’ll never disappoint you—he can’t disappoint you. But you’ll be disappointed in your other relationships, and that just reinforces the ridiculous belief that there was only ever one person for you. Or one person for everyone on this planet.”
“Ridiculous? Why are you being so mean? I’ve never said anything like this to you.”
His jaw bulged where he clenched it, and his hand was gripping the doorjamb so hard that his knuckles whitened. “It’s probably just as well that you believe that. Nobody could compete with a dead person and win.”
I threw up my hands. “Why is anyone competing? Why are you even talking like this? Is it because of those birthday cards? You have a right to be mad at your Mom, but—”
William whipped out his keys from his pants pocket and abruptly turned. “You need a ride home.” And he left the room. Shit.
I was still pissed at him as I followed him down the hallway. When I entered the family room, I saw Britt and Kim talking to one another on a couch, each with a glass of wine in hand. Peter was clearing the dishes from the table. “There’s cake for dessert…” he began, but his voice faded out when he took one look at his son’s face.
“I need to go. I’m taking Jenna home.”
“I’ll put a piece in a box for you both.” His dad went into the kitchen, and William folded his arms tightly across his chest as he waited.
On the couch, his sister frowned, then looked directly at me. “What’s up, Liam? You okay?”
“I’m fine,” he snapped and then actually tapped his foot in an obvious show of impatience. My jaw dropped at his rude behavior.
Kim stood and walked over to us, setting her glass down. “Hey William, I’ve been wanting to get the details on your duel. The time and place and the directions, maybe? We’d like to come and cheer for you.”
He shook his head but didn’t say anything…he didn’t even look at her. Goddess, this was awkward. “I’ll, um, I’ll wait in the car. Night all, and thank you for the wonderful dinner.” I spun on my heel and walked out.
In the cool night air, I took some deep breaths and let the tears spill over onto my cheeks before quickly scrubbing them away. Part of me was seething with anger at him. But the bigger part of me was mad at myself.
This had started out as a simple and mutually beneficial situation for both of us. I’d needed to help him get my tiara back, he needed my help to deal with his crowd issues. It just so happened that I’d started to enjoy being in his company.
I’d started enjoying him.
And I wasn’t ready for this to be over.
It was a tense drive home. William said absolutely nothing. With each passing mile, I felt more and more miserable. He stopped at my curb and kept the engine idling, not even looking at me.
I turned to him and put my hand on his arm. “Wil.”
He yanked it out of my hold. “I’ll see you at the Festival, Jenna. In the meantime, I wish you well.”
My throat closed up with hurt. I would not lose it in front of him. But I couldn’t just open the door and leave, either. “You’re just like that Hanged Man, you know. That was the perfect card for you.”
He scowled. “I told you I don’t believe in that Tarot stuff.”
“The Hanged Man is in stasis, and so are you. You’re held back by your anger toward your mother. You let that be the tree you hang yourself on.”
He was silent as he gripped the wheel tightly. And me, I was about to burst into tears again. So rather than let him see them, I scooted out of the car as fast as I could.