Miss Matched [COMPLETED]

18. Simon

We're getting somewhere, and it guts me for her to believe for even a moment letting her go was an easy decision. At the time, it felt necessary, but there was nothing easy about it. Maybe if I told her about how GameSetMatch pursued me relentlessly during the same time period my father was cutting into our relationship, my decision would make more sense.

Maybe.

Or maybe she'd ask me to drive her home, and she'd never talk to me again. At this point, either scenario feels equally likely. Without the ammunition to bring GameSetMatch to their knees and get her money, she's tied to me. Does that make me a terrible person? Even if I truly believe she's the right woman for me? Because if there's one thing I've figured out over the last week, whether GameSetMatch is a fraud, my feelings for Tayla are real. All consuming, can't stop thinking about her, yesterday not talking to her was torture, kinda real.

"There was more going on than just my dad. I promise I'll tell you everything before our last Sunday together. I swear it. Now isn't the time."

"Now isn't the time." The words seem to roll around in her mouth, her expression revealing their sour taste.

"If I wasn't holding half of your money from the GameSetMatch experiment hostage, would you have agreed to see me?"

She laughs, the sound bitter. "You know the answer. Not a chance."

"What about now? Right now. Given that we've had a great week and a half together. If I said I'd never email GameSetMatch back, but I want to keep seeing you, would you stay with me?"

Silence lapses between us while she searches my face, confusion and frustration floating over hers. "No. If I could stop all this right now, I would."

I start the car and reverse out of the parking lot. That's answer enough. I can't tell her what I know about GameSetMatch until I've had a chance to prove to her I am truly her soulmate. Whether GameSetMatch got it wrong a million times before this one, we're a match, a fit, destined to be together.

"So, you're just going to keep lording the money over me?" She crosses her arms and stares out the window.

"I guess so. I don't think GameSetMatch got us wrong. I want a chance to prove to you we're good together. According to you, this last week and a half hasn't done that. I guess we'll see what another week and a half adds to the cause. We have a deal."

"Sometimes I hate you," she spits out.

"That's fair. Sometimes I hate myself." I scan the dark road ahead. This section of road is surrounded by forested areas, and there are minimal streetlights. Up ahead, something dark is on the road. I slow the car, peering into the distance. "What is that?"

Tayla perks up in the seat beside me, leaning toward the windshield as we creep closer. "Oh, Lord," she whispers. "It's someone's dog. Pull over. It must have been hit."

The dog is panting on its side in the middle of the road. Still alive. My heart constricts in my chest as we both climb out and rush to it. It looks like a Labrador.

"Do you have a blanket?" Tayla asks, her hands skimming over the dog. "I won't know exactly what's wrong until we get him to the clinic."

I run back to my car, pop the trunk and grab the blanket I keep with my first aid kit. "Do you want the first aid kit?" I call back.

"No," she says, her voice small. "There's blood, but no excessive bleeding. I'm worried about internal hemorrhaging."

Throwing open the driver's door and popping the driver's seat forward, I go back to Tayla. "I can lift him into the backseat," I say. "You sit with him and do your thing to make him comfortable while I get us to your clinic." Carefully, I hoist him into my arms. He's a sturdy fella, well loved by someone. "Looks like he's got tags."