At that moment, I wasn’t alone.
Standing awkwardly beside me was a guy from my class.
He was pretty good–looking–tall, broad shoulders–and his name showed up in the campus confession forum regularly.
I was just about to ask if he needed help with something.
During dinner, I’d caught him stealing glances at me like a dozen times.
“Drielle, um, so I’m Felix–the guy who’s sent you three letters with no response.”
“I think you’re absolutely gorgeous, and I want to seriously date you–like, seriously seriously. Would you give me a chance to pursue you?”
He stammered through his little speech, scratched his head nervously, then shoved a fourth letter into my hands.
Before I could even react, he bolted like his ass was on fire.
“Drielle.”
I’d just opened the letter when I turned around to find Tanner standing behind me, looking like death warmed over.
He seemed exhausted from traveling, dark circles under his eyes, hair slightly messed up.
But his crisp white button–down and dark dress pants were still perfectly pressed–still the polished prep school prince I’d grown up with.
The formal outfit plus the laptop bag suggested he’d rushed here straight from some business event.
Even though I’d moved on, seeing him here made my chest tighten with a mixture of rage and disbelief.
“I need to talk to you. Can we sit down somewhere?”
Tanner’s question was tentative, like he was terrified I’d say no.
“I have to study for my thermodynamics exam tonight. Just say whatever you need to say here.” My voice was perfectly controlled, but my hands were shaking.
If Tanner had chased me across the fucking country, he obviously wasn’t leaving until he said his piece.
But his opening line made me want to punch him.
“You guys have known each other for like five minutes and he’s already confessing? That’s not serious–guys like that just care about looks. You should stay away from him.”
I let out a bitter laugh that could’ve cut glass.
“You flew across the country to give me dating advice? How is this any of your goddamn business? Just because I can’t make new friends doesn’t mean I have to stay loyal to old ones who betrayed me.”
Tanner flinched like I’d slapped him, then continued in a more subdued tone.
“Drielle, I don’t understand why you didn’t change your application with me. I’m sorry–I was way too presumptuous.”
“I just assumed you’d follow me anywhere…”
Fury blazed through my chest. I cut him off sharply.
“Stop right there. Don’t project your expectations onto me or try to guilt–trip me. I didn’t choose to change anything—you’re the one who switched up
first.”
“But before, no matter which school I applied to, you always came with me. You had my login information–why didn’t you change yours this time?”
16:44
Golden Boy Blew Our 13 Years? Joke’s On Him. 1 Bagged A Tycoon!
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Chapter 25 FPS WERE PLANE
Tanner was getting agitated, grabbing my arm like he was drowning and I was his life raft.
The touch made my skin crawl
“Why didn’t you just tell me straight up that you wanted to go somewhere else? Would I have stopped you from applying? Why play games with people’s futures? Is it fun to mess with someone like that?
I stared him down, my voice dripping with contempt.
“It’s not like that, that’s not what happened, I was just… maybe too confident about our relationship. Don’t you remember? When I kissed you, you didn’t pull away… I was planning to officially ask you out once we got to college, and I’d already thought about getting married after graduation back in New York…”
“There was never anyone else. Harper was just me trying to make you jealous later on.”
By the end, Tanner was getting emotional, his eyes rimmed with red,
The desperation in his voice almost made me feel sorry for him. Almost,
1 yanked my arm free like his touch burned.
“But you never considered how I felt. That’s when I realized you don’t actually know me at all–you have no idea why I wanted this school. You probably thought I only applied because you did.”
“It was never just about you, you self centered asshole,” My voice was rising, months of suppressed rage finally spilling over.
“You should know that my dad died in an aircraft testing accident. I used to ask you all the time what was so fascinating about space that my dad would risk his life for experiments.”
“The truth is, I’ve always wanted to find that answer myself. The more I missed him, the more I needed to understand. Did you really think I’d just abandon his dreams for some guy who couldn’t even be honest with me?”
Tanner looked like I’d hit him with a freight train
“But you… you never told me any of this…”
I smiled, but it felt like broken glass in my mouth.
He probably never imagined that my casual questions weren’t just about missing Dad–they’d secretly planted the seeds of continuing his legacy.
So all that sweat and effort, all those sleepless nights studying–none of it was just for Tanner.
Finally, I told him everything I needed closure on this toxic chapter of my life.
“I’m still grateful that when my father died, you helped me through the worst of it. Even when my mom was overwhelmed with the business, your parents gave me the same warmth they gave their own family,”
“But Tanner, from the moment you decided to break our promise without telling me, we were finished. Completely fucking finished.”
