Read His Wicked Games: A Billionaire Romance (The Cunningham Family #1) Page 33

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  I don't go home. I go straight to the courthouse and apply for a restraining order. It won’t be official until we’re in front of a judge, but I’m hoping that being served with the paperwork will be enough to scare Garrett away in the meantime.

  Afterward I'm still too jumpy to go to my apartment, so I drive around for a while. This is when I really wish I had a couple of good female friends in town. I’ve been too focused on the Center these last couple of years to have much of a social life. I could call up one of the women who works at the Center with me, but I don’t want this getting back to Dad. I don’t want to worry him or distract him from making sure everything runs smoothly at the party tonight.

  Eventually I pull into a fast food restaurant. I order myself a value meal and sit eating it in the parking lot.

  I'm halfway through my cheeseburger before I lose my resolve and pull out my phone. I can't help it—I need to tell someone about what just happened. I know I’m breaking every rule I set for myself, but I want to talk to Calder. I should be stronger than this, but I crave the reassurance that I did the right thing, that I'm not at fault for Garrett's insanity.

  A call is too personal. Instead, I text.

  You were right about Garrett. I applied for a restraining order.

  I pause for a minute. There's so much I want to say to him, but I don't know how to say it. I don't know, after all this time, whether he wants to hear it at all.

  Finally, I take a deep breath and add:

  Forgive me for not respecting your decision about the pledge. I hope you and your sister are doing well.

  I send it off before I can change my mind.

  My cheeseburger is cold by the time I pick it up again. I munch on it absentmindedly. I move to the fries next, though they're soggy at this point. Only when I finish those and there’s still no reply to my text do I accept that I probably won't be hearing back from Calder anytime soon.

  It doesn't matter, I tell myself. I said what I needed to say.

  But did I? I’ve been thinking more about our argument in the garden. He told me I was using the Center as an excuse, and I realize now that he was right. I told myself that I engaged in his little games for the sake of the Center, but if I’m being honest, that’s not the truth at all. I played along because I wanted to. Because I wanted him.

  But that’s too much to convey in a text message. And I’m not sure he’d want to hear it at this point anyway.

  I take a deep breath and crumple up the food wrappers. I don’t blame him, truly I don’t. He has bigger things to deal with than our non-relationship. I only wish that thought made me feel better.