He Wanted an Open Relationship, So I Accepted Another Proposal Chapter 05

He Wanted an Open Relationship, So I Accepted Another Proposal Chapter 05

I deleted everything about Grant from my phone and Google Drive.

Every picture, every file, every old message disappeared.

I packed every gift he had ever given me into one huge cardboard box.

Then I hired a courier and sent it straight back to the Whitmore house.

From then on, I stopped paying attention to anything about him.

I thought that would be the end.

But Maddie still lived in my dorm.

And she always brought him up without meaning to.

She talked about how thoughtful he was and how well he knew how to love someone.

Grant did know how to love.

When he wanted to, he could make any girl feel like the center of his world.

But for me, that tenderness no longer belonged to me.

On Valentine’s Day, Maddie said she wanted to treat everyone to dinner.

It was a dorm tradition: Whenever someone got a boyfriend, she had to buy dinner.

But Grant had never met my roommates as my boyfriend.

I made an excuse, saying I had a headache because I didn’t want to go.

Maddie wouldn’t let it go.

She clung to my arm and whined.

“Please, come on. It’s just dinner. Sit with us for a little while. Grant can drive you back afterward.”

So I was dragged to an upscale restaurant.

During dinner, Grant didn’t look at me once.

He peeled shrimp for Maddie and picked the shells out of her crab meat.

While the roommates cheered them on, he linked arms with her for a toast.

Then he fed her cake mouth-to-mouth.

Frosting smeared the corner of Maddie’s lips.

He lowered his head and kissed it away, gentle as ever.

I looked down and cut the steak on my plate one slice, then another.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grant’s jaw tighten.

His expression darkened too.

Maybe my calmness bored him.

After dinner, every roommate had a boyfriend waiting.

No one was going back to the dorm.

In front of the busy restaurant, I was the only one left alone.

Grant walked over with an awkward expression.

His voice sounded stiff. “… do you want me to drive you back?”

He probably thought I was still the same Harper, the one who’d always come running back no matter how badly he hurt me.

All he had to do was give me a little sweetness.

Before I could answer, Maddie softened against his chest.

“Grant, I think I drank too much. My head’s spinning. Can you stay with me for a while?”

I smiled. “No need. Someone’s picking me up.”

Grant’s face went cold. “Suit yourself.”

Then he wrapped an arm around Maddie and walked to his sports car.

A moment later, they sped off.

I stood where I was.

The night wind brushed past me, making my temples ache.

I didn’t want to call a ride, so I walked along the sidewalk with no real direction.

When I reached the main campus entrance, an e-bike came flying the wrong way.

I didn’t have time to dodge.

It hit me hard and knocked me to the ground.

The rider cursed, hit the throttle, and vanished into the night.

Pain spread through my body.

My fingers moved faster than my brain.

Out of habit, I pressed the speed-dial shortcut on my phone.

It rang four times.

On the fifth ring, the call was declined.

The beeps struck my eardrum again and again.

I held the phone and stared at the empty street.

Only then did I realize whose number I had called. Grant’s.

The person who used to pick up right away, the one who would come get me no matter how late it was, wouldn’t come anymore.

I didn’t cry or call again.

I forced myself up and dialed 911.

At the hospital, the doctor cleaned my wounds and gave me a tetanus shot.

I lay on the hospital bed and stared at the IV bag.

Then the door suddenly opened.

A tall figure stood against the light.

His broad shoulders blocked almost all the hallway glow.

When I saw who it was, I forgot how to breathe.

I stared blankly as he walked closer.

A cool cedar scent pressed over me and wrapped around my whole body.

“Harper, aren’t you supposed to be tough? Then why did you let yourself end up like this?”