Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2)(43)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Please don’t make this any harder for me. I feel so horrible already. This isn’t easy for me. I don’t want to hurt you. You have to know that.” I stood up and tried to go to him, but he pulled away from me.

“You don’t want to hurt me? You’re f**king killing me, Vessa. You’re killing me!” He walked back into the bedroom and slammed the door so hard that a duck decoy fell off of a shelf. I covered my face and bawled. I moved here to get away from Gavin and he was still ruining my life. Even divorcing him wasn’t going to change that.

I didn’t know what to do. Ramsey was in the bedroom with a broken heart. I was sitting in the living room, in my underwear, in the same shape. My kids had no idea that any of this was happening. I ran into the bathroom and started projectile vomiting. It was just all too much to take. These were going to be my last moments with Ramsey and I was too sick to my stomach to even talk to him.

Wishing that Gavin got hit by a car seemed wrong in so many ways, but it would solve all of my problems. That’s for sure.

It sure beat leaving my heart here and moving to a place where I never wanted to go again.

Chapter 19

Ramsey

I wasn’t okay with her decision. There was no way I was just going to let her walk away from what we had, not after everything we’d been through to be together.

I couldn’t believe she had showed up in the middle of the night to break up with me. I realized that technically we weren’t even supposed to be together, but I wasn’t about to let anyone dictate my life, especially when it came to being with Vessa. I wasn’t going to let her douche bag ex keep us apart. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I was going to find a way around this.

When I heard Vessa getting sick in the bathroom, I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. I was hurting, but she was feeling the same thing, maybe even more. I grabbed a small blanket and heading in to check on her.

Her head was laying against the toilet. I wet a rag and handed it to her. “You know, Jules always thought she could drink like her lady friends, but every single party we ever went to, she came home puking her guts up. One time, after a night of puking, she went out and bought me a card, and inside of it, she named me, Dr. Pukey, because I knew how to take care of someone else without throwing up myself.”

She wiped off her face and flushed the toilet. “You don’t have to sit with me. I already know you’re my hero. That’s why I’m so sick over all of this. It’s killing me to walk away from something that feels so right. I never thought that I would ever feel this again. I surely didn’t expect for it to happen so soon, but I wouldn’t change a thing that got us to this point.”

I’d been sitting on the edge of the tub, so she spun around to lay her head between my knees. I ran my hands through her blonde hair. “This can’t be the end, Vessa. It’s not forever. I’ll wait as long as I have to.” I just wanted some form of hope. Anything would be better than the feeling that I had in the pit of my stomach when I thought about never being with her again.

“What if he drags this on until they both turn eighteen? I can’t ask you to wait that long for me, Ramsey. It’s just not fair to either of us.”

“So, you’re just going to give up? You’re going to walk away and not think about me anymore? You think you can really do that?” I clenched my jaw to prevent my emotions from coming out any more than they already were. I knew this was hard for her. “I would never make you choose between me and your kids. I know they are the most important thing. Trust me, I get it.”

“Do you? Do you understand that this is only about them?” She was pleading with me to understand. I understood just fine. I just didn’t want to accept it.

“Of course. I gotta be honest though. I’m not okay with this decision. I’m not alright with you walking out of my life and I don’t know how you’re going to go through with it either. Can you really just walk away?”

She shrugged. “I have to.”

“I have a better idea. Are you feeling better?” This had to work.

“Not really, why?”

I grabbed her hands and got her standing and then I handed my toothbrush and kissed the top of her head. “Get cleaned up and meet me at the pool table.”

As I was walking out, she sniffled and whined, “Sex isn’t going to solve this.”

It was funny how she just assumed that the pool table room meant heated sex. “Just hurry up.”

I was shooting balls around the table when she finally came in. The color was back in her face, but I could tell that she was far from okay. I mostly knew it because I felt the same way. I made a couple more balls before I could swallow the knot that had formed in my throat. I wasn’t going to let her just walk away without a fight. I couldn’t give up.

“What are we doing?”

I walked up closed to her and handed her my pool stick, so that I could grab a quarter. I tossed the coin in the air. “Call it.”

“Heads.”

The coin rolled around the table and finally landed on heads. “Your break, my rack.” I bent down and started grabbing the balls to rack them up.

“You want to play a match, right now?”

“Not just a match. I’m playing for your heart. If you win, I let you walk away. I won’t fight you.”

“And if you win?” She leaned over the table.

I stood up and got the rack straight before looking into her hazel eyes. “If I win, we find another way to be together.”

“How is that fair when I want to be with you too?” She had a point.

“If I were you, I’d try to win. You’re not going to like what I have in mind.” I really didn’t’ have any legitimate ideas. My first thought was to leave town and change all of our names. Maybe I’d watched too many spy movies and it was all just a shitty idea. It seemed better than watching her walk away from me.

“This is ridiculous.”

“Just play your game, Vessa. Best out of five. Call your pockets and remember, we’re playing for everything. You want me to let you go without a fight, than you’re going to have to beat me. I’m just warning you now, when the stakes are high, I don’t lose.” She was crazy if she thought I was going to f**k this up.

Vessa bent down and broke up the balls. One low ball fell. She walked around the table, like any good player would, to look for her run out. What I was making her play for wasn’t exactly right, for several reasons. I wasn’t doing this to be mean. I was doing it to see if we had a chance. From the very first shot, I knew this match was going to tell me everything I needed to know. Vessa was just as good a shot as I was, maybe even better. She knew how to play the game and because of that I knew she would play her hardest as long as the stakes were in her favor. If she loved me enough, she’d throw the match. Then I would have my answer.