Hustle Me (Bank Shot Romance #1)(57)
Author: Jennifer Foor

How much more could he hurt me? Wasn’t leaving enough? Did he have to add fuel to the fire and sign over his quarter ownership too? "I see."

The gentleman with the weird stare cleared his throat. "My son didn’t want anything to do with that place. He’s washed his hands of it. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get this settled so I can go about my day."

It wasn’t his rude attitude that bothered me. I didn’t have to ask who the man was. Just the couple sentences that he’d spoke gave that away. Jammer’s father was sitting across from me, looking me over as he destroyed me even more than ever before. I grabbed the stack of papers and a pen. "Who paid the balance?"

Jammer’s father leaned over the table and looked from me to my lawyer. "Just sign the papers."

I sat the pen down and looked at the man who Jammer hated. "I’m not signing anything until you answer my question. Who paid? I know you didn’t do it out of the kindness of your heart."

He sat back and smiled like his words were going to crush me. Don’t know how I knew it, but I could feel it coming. "Let’s just say that I gave my son a choice. He’d rather be rich than play house with someone like you."

It hurt. I wasn’t going to lie. It was like he was taking a knife and stabbing me directly in the heart. "You’re an ass**le."

He laughed out loud. "For someone without a pot to piss in, you have a lot of nerve. I suggest that you sign the papers, before I retract this offer and take everything you have away from you."

I looked over at my lawyer. "Can he even do that?"

He looked from me to Jammer’s dad. "I’m afraid that he can. We also represent Mr. Thomas in this matter. It would be in your best interest to sign the papers."

Oh, so being screwed over was the plan all along. I wasn’t sure if I was more mad at myself than anyone else. This sucked and the only way out of it was to sign the damn papers and walk away with some kind of dignity. I shook my head and concentrated on not letting myself cry in front of these two dickheads. I pushed the signed papers toward them and waited for whatever else they were going to throw at me.

"Looks like we have everything here. You will receive the deed free and clear in just a couple of weeks. As far as selling the place, I can get in touch with a realtor tomorrow and set something up, or if you already have someone in mind you can contact them yourself."

I put up my hand to stop him from talking. While grabbing my purse off the floor, I stood up. "It’s no longer going to be for sale. If you think you can buy it back for next to nothing, you can kiss my ass. I would never sell my father’s bar. He kept that for me and my brother. It’s no wonder your son can’t commit to a responsible life. Meeting you for ten seconds showed me why. I’ve had a pretty f**ked up childhood, but your mother must have been psychotic, because there is no way someone can be as heartless as you otherwise." I walked out of the conference room door and didn’t look back. I didn’t give a shit what they thought about my attitude.

Once I got to my car I was literally bawling my eyes out. Even windshield wipers wouldn’t have been able to control my tears. Jammer had chosen money over being with me. Could it get any worse?

I don’t even remember the drive, but when I pulled up at the college campus, I knew exactly where I was and why I was there. I raced to Zach’s dorm room and burst into the door. As I closed the door behind me, while still crying, two bodies sat up in the bed. "Charlie, what are you doing here?" Elle’s voice confirmed that the messy haired girl in Zach’s bed was in fact my best friend.

"Seriously, you two?" It wasn’t like I wanted Zach as a boyfriend. He was just my best friend. I guess they both were.

"Charlie, we were going to tell you." Zach climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts. I guess he didn’t care about me seeing his bare ass since I’d seen it before. Elle pulled the covers up around her chin. I could tell she was embarrassed and afraid of my reaction.

I pointed at Elle. "You have a boyfriend."

"We broke up. It was around the time you got together with Jam…" She realized that saying his name was going to hurt me and stopped for a second. "Zach and I have been friends for a while and it just happened. We’ve been exclusive for a few weeks now. Please don’t be mad."

I sat on the bed across from the one they were in. "I’m not mad. I mean, I wish you would have just told me, but I get why you didn’t. Listen, I’m not here to rain on your parade, but my life is a f**king mess and I needed my best friends."

For the next hour I explained everything that had happened in the attorney’s office. Aside from Zach claiming that they had legally wronged me, I think they both felt sorry for my predicament. Neither of them seemed surprised when I told them that Jammer had picked money over being with me.

After they finally got up and got dressed, Elle offered to come home and stay with me for a couple of days. They had finished finals and she was planning on shacking up with Zach during the break. I think after the initial shock of them being together wore off, it was not a big deal. They were both my friends no matter what.

On the way home Elle tried to talk to me about Jammer. I think she was trying to make me feel better, but the more I heard his name, the worse I felt. I think I needed some kind of closure and never had gotten it. He owed me some kind of explanation for why he left the way he did after sleeping with me just hours before. Aside from feeling used, I was so bitterly angry with him.

I did what every woman would have done in my situation. I waited for Elle and Ry to go to sleep and dialed Jammer’s number. Instead of hanging up when I got his voicemail, I hung on and left a message.

“Hi, it’s me, Charlie. Listen, I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I just can’t go another day not knowing what the hell happened. Did you just use me? Was this all some ploy to save up enough money to skip town? Did you even give a damn about me when you were telling me that you loved me? Do you have any idea how bad you hurt me. I f**king loved you. I let myself feel things that I never felt before and all along you were lying to me. I forgave you when I found out about who you really were. Why did you let me forgive you? I don’t understand any of this. Then, today I met your father. He told me you chose money over being with me. I’m glad I know where your heart is. Maybe you were more like that ass**le I met today then you lead on. Only a total bastard could use someone like me and throw her away like she is garbage. I hate myself for loving you. If I never saw you again it would be too soon. Have a nice life, ass**le!”

When I hung up the phone my heart was beating out of my chest. I said things that were harsh, but my feelings were chewed up and spit out by him. He needed to know how much I hated him for hurting me; for hurting Ryan. Neither of us deserved that kind of treatment from someone we trusted. I thought I meant something to him. I thought I was always his Lena. It pissed me off more knowing I had been played a fool.