I held that smile like a shield, then walked back to the reception desk and sank into one of the empty chairs along the wall.

Complicated. That’s what I’d called my exclusive, non-relationship with Jackson, and that right there had been the perfect example.

What I needed right now was easy, supportive, and…easy. But Jackson? What we had was intense, emotional, and messy.

Claire was a tie for the biggest complication between us.

I’m not with Claire. I. Want. You.

I held on to Jackson’s words as my fingers toyed with my necklace. I had two choices here—believe him or run as fast as I could.

Either way, the thought of losing him to Claire sent a knife straight into my stitched-together heart. She wasn’t good enough for him. She’d had his love and still hadn’t chosen him when it mattered.

Just like Peyton hadn’t chosen Will…and yet he’d still loved her until his dying breath. He’d loved Paisley, too, even when she’d chosen Jagger. But he’d never loved me, even though I was the only one who had ever chosen him. My chest tightened. Fucking Will.

“Ms. Bartley?” The secretary called my name.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Mr. Patterson will see you now. I’ll take you to him.” She rose and led me toward his office.

I passed by Finley’s room but didn’t look through the window. She wasn’t mine. I didn’t get to be jealous. So why did I feel that swirling green monster in my belly?

I was in deeper than I’d wanted to admit, especially after that display I’d put on about Claire’s last name. Whatever, she’d taken off his ring. She didn’t get to claim his name now just because she obviously wanted him back.

I wasn’t giving him up without a fight.

Oh God. At what point had I decided that Jackson was mine to lose?

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Jackson

“Because it’s a school night,” I said as calmly as I could possibly manage, folding my arms across my chest. Seven p.m. on a school night to be precise. I’d been on nights for the past five days, and I didn’t want to spend the only night I had off this week arguing with Claire, but here we were.

I wanted to spend what time I had with Morgan, especially since I hadn’t seen her since I’d crawled out of her bed Saturday morning. It had almost been impossible to make myself go.

“So let her skip tomorrow. It’s preschool, for God’s sake, not Harvard.” She walked past me into the living room.

“Absolutely not.” It wasn’t the first time she’d been in my house, but it still threw me to see her taking in the pictures of Fin I had scattered around.