Resisting the Player -- [Completed - Unedited]

Chapter 34: I'm Sorry

"You got this, Cassie," Aaron says from beside me. I don't turn my head away from staring at my front door, the dread the only thing I can think about. "It's going to be easy; they're not going to hate you."

I find myself hoping my parents-who-aren't-actually-my-parents aren't home; I've known them for my whole life, though, so I know, unless they got called into the office on an emergency, they're home, sitting inside.

She's probably making fun of his awful attempts at cooking dinner before she takes over, and he's probably making fun of her awful taste in music, something that always happens on a Sunday night.

I scoff. "Easy my ass. I told them to leave me alone and then proceeded to ignore them and not talk to them for almost a week and a half. If I was them, I would be pretty upset."

I see him shake his head out of the corner of my eye. "Just do it. You'll be fine."

I nod to myself, trying to let his words give me the confidence that I'm lacking. "Yeah. I'll be fine." Aaron gently places a hand on my shoulder and squeezes, and when I turn my head to meet his eyes, I see that they're filled with warmth and something else. A look that says he believes in me, that he believes I can do this. "I got this."

He shoots me his smile—temporarily distracting me with the sight of his dimples—and walks down the porch stairs, leaving me standing outside the door by myself, heading back to his house.

Soon after he walks off the porch steps, moving farther and farther away from me, all the doubt that had momentarily left my mind when he looked into my eyes comes flooding back, and I have to fight back the urge to follow him.

They hate you. They're never going to forgive you. Ever. You were just a burden on them, and they're glad to be rid of you. They're better off without you so you might as well leave them alone.

I can't do this. I can't.

Why did I let Aaron try to convince me this was a good idea?

I turn around to leave, but I don't take more than a few steps.

"Cassie," comes Aaron's harsh whisper. "Knock on the fucking door."

Fuck.

I turn my head to look at him.

"I don't think I can do this," I hiss back. "Not today. Maybe tomorrow."

He stares at me before he turns to go inside, shooting a "Stay there," over his shoulder.

I turn back around and wait impatiently on the porch of my house, and I'm about to run back over to Aaron's house when he comes back outside, his phone pressed to his ear.

"Yes, sir, open your door. There's a surprise for you."

My eyes widen.

He didn't.

My front door opens and I come face to face with two very shocked people.

He did not.

I shoot a glare at Aaron, who shrugs.

"I'll be inside if you need me," he says before he walks back into his house, closing the door behind him.

Fucking asshole.

I glare at Aaron's closed door, willing him to come back outside and take me back into his house.

After a couple of seconds, it's obvious that he's not going to do that, so I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what's about to happen.

"Sweetie..."

I have to resist the urge to throw myself at the two of them and pull them in for a hug. That one word from her makes me want to cry and apologize for everything.