Yours Truly(118)

Brooke crossed her arms and shot him a glare that should have killed him where he stood. She stalked across the deck and grabbed the screen door from me. “I'll be right inside if you need me.”

“Thanks,” I whispered. Brooke put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a long look. Be strong, she said with her eyes. I nodded. I had been played a fool for the last time.

The door shut with a click. I knew Brooke, Devon, and Lucas were listening intently inside. They had my back.

“What do you want?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Izzy, I swear I didn't mean to buy it out from under you,” Noah answered quickly. He put one foot on the porch and I glared at it until he put it back on the ground.

“I realized this afternoon that I never actually said anything about it to you,” I said. I hoped my voice sounded as cold as I wanted it to. His expression brightened slightly, but I hardened my eyes. “But I did tell you how much the island needs that grove. How bad tourism would be for that reef. That I remember very clearly. Are you going to build condos over the Grove?”

“The tourism will be good for the island,” he answered. His hopeful expression was fading quickly.

“Right.” I tightened my arms. “I made my stance on that pretty clear as well. You can leave now.”

I turned to walk back into the house. This conversation was over. He didn't care about me or the Grove. The next thing I knew, though, he was on the porch, his hand around my wrist to keep me from going inside. My traitorous body responded longingly to his touch. I still wanted him, wanted his hands on me.

“Please let me go,” I whispered, frozen in place by heartache.

“Izzy, I love you. I want to make this right.” There was a note of desperation in his voice. His breath caught and looked at me with sad eyes. I pulled my arm out from his grasp.

“Then don't build the condos. You still have time to reverse the sale.” I held my breath as I waited for his response. He didn't answer. He just frowned and looked at my feet. I knew then that we were very much over. We probably should never have been together in the first place. “But, obviously, the money is more important to you. More important than I am. I get it. Your ex-fiancée would be very proud of you.”

His eyes shot up, flashing with a blue fire. I didn't care. I knew I was hitting below the belt, but I didn't care. He deserved it.

“Oh, yes, I did a little research on you.” I thought of what I had found on his Wikipedia page and what he had said on our walk. I knew this was a sore subject. I knew this haunted him. And I was very willing to use it. “After your fiancée left you for someone with more money, you started making all sorts of shady deals. It worked because you're a billionaire now.”

Noah's breathing sped up, and two spots of color grew in his cheeks. My breath hitched in my throat for a second. It wasn't like me to be mean, to say things out of pure spite. But at that moment, I didn't care. He had hurt me. Obliterated my dreams. A girl's entitled to a little bitchiness when she's heartbroken.

I laid out my last blow. “I'm sure she'd be happy to be with you now. Internet says she's single. All she cared about was money and now you've got it. You two deserve each other.”

And with that I turned on my heel and opened the door to go back inside.

“Izzy...” He said my name like a plea. I looked back at him. His blue eyes were shining with tears and hurt. He held his hands out in front of him like he was asking for forgiveness. I had none to give.

“I don't think this is going to work out, Noah.” That was the understatement of the year. “You need to leave. Please don't try and see me again.”

I stepped inside the safety of the house and closed the door. I couldn't believe I had actually said those things out loud. I had wanted to hurt him like he had hurt me. Brooke took me into a hug as soon as I cleared the kitchen.

“Izzy! Please!” Noah called out, banging on the door. At least he had enough sense not to open it. Devon and Lucas were on their feet and at the door in a heartbeat with murderous expressions on their faces.

“She asked you to leave,” Devon growled through the door. Lucas crossed his arms and glared daggers behind him. Together they looked scary as hell and completely blocked the door.

“Izzy...” Noah's voice cracked. I turned my head away from him and into Brooke's shoulder. She tightened her arms protectively around me.

“We're not going to ask you again,” Lucas stated. He sounded deeper and bigger than usual. And definitely not happy. The porch creaked as Noah took a step away from the door.

“I didn't mean to hurt her. I do love her,” he pleaded with the boys. I was glad I couldn't see his face.