Ditching Me for His 'Soulmate'? His Loss. Next Stop: My New Life novel Chapter 2

When he saw me, his voice was ice cold. “Peyton, aren’t you too old for this? Getting jealous and staying out till 3 AM–you think that’s okay? Seriously?”

My eyelids were literally glued together. I was way too tired to deal with his crap, so I just walked past him toward my room.

He blocked my path. “Okay, stop. Me and Felicity? That’s over. Nothing’s happening, and it

won’t. You don’t need to act like this.”

“And this late–night thing? I don’t like it. Don’t do it again.‘

I yawned. “You’re reading too much into this. I’m not jealous, not mad. And I’m done with

the curfew.”

His face went dark. “Seriously? There’s a limit. I’m not your parents–I’m not gonna put up with your shit forever.”

I was too dead to even talk. Just wanted to crash.

He must’ve thought I was backing down, because he sighed and tried to pull me into a hug.

I stepped back, dodging him, and used my last bit of energy to get into the bedroom and

lock the door.

Right before I passed out, I had this foggy thought that maybe I should’ve taken the guest room and let him have the master, but before I could even think “whatever,” I was out.

For the first time in forever, I slept straight through till morning without even dreaming.

When I got up to wash my face, Garrett was just coming out of his room.

He walked past me with this stone–cold expression, acting like I didn’t exist.

But this time I didn’t panic or grab his hand and beg him to tell me what was wrong. Just

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went about my business.

When I headed to the kitchen, I heard the front door slam.

Ugh, that door’s gonna fall off if he keeps that up.

I made myself a simple breakfast, ate, then headed to work.

At the office, I went straight to my boss’s door. Just as I was about to knock, I heard, “Oh

Peyton, you’re here early!”

Turned around–it was my boss.

Guess I’d gotten there before she did.

Once we were in her office, I told her I was ready to accept the company’s Berlin

assignment.

The company had offered me this opportunity before, and my boss had pushed hard for me to take it for my career, but I’d turned it down because I didn’t want to be away from

Garrett that long.

My boss was pumped I’d changed my mind, then asked all concerned, “Everything okay with your boyfriend?”

I shook my head. “I’m breaking up with him.”

Thank God for Felicity–she helped me wake up just in time.

Starting today, I needed to prep for the handover and get my visa stuff sorted.

After a crazy long day, it was already dark when I left the office.

I figured I might as well grab dinner out before heading home.

When I got back, I found Garrett standing there with flowers in one hand and his phone in

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the other, mid–call.

“Yeah, you’re actually in New York for once. Obviously I’m gonna make it special. Don’t worry, you’ll love it. Just order whatever, I’m on my way.”

Oh right, today was Felicity’s birthday.

His face had that stupid lovesick look all over it–the kind he’d never once given me.

With me, he was always cold, distant. Even when he smiled, it was barely there.

I’d complained about it once, and he’d just calmly said he wasn’t comfortable being all

emotional.

Turns out he was plenty comfortable–just not with me.

After he hung up, that smile was still on his face. But the second he saw me, it vanished.

He walked past me with complete indifference, holding those flowers, and shut the door

behind him without a word.

He was still pissed about how cold I’d been yesterday, so he was giving me the silent

treatment.

But what he didn’t know was that, just like this morning, I wasn’t gonna panic over him

ignoring me anymore.

I just ordered takeout, ate, then picked up my German textbook that had been collecting

dust.

I know German, but I haven’t used it in forever. Definitely needed a refresher.

When I got tired of studying and took a break, I mindlessly scrolled through Instagram and–surprise, surprise–saw Felicity’s new post.

[Lucky to have you in my life]

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All of Garrett’s buddies were in the comments hyping them up.

His friends have always been Team Felicity. They hate me. Never say it to my face, but they find every possible way to make me feel like shit.

I’d complained to Garrett about it before, but he’d just said, “Then you need to work harder

to win them over.”

I refreshed and saw Garrett had commented too—just a smiley face emoji.

Suddenly I got tagged. One of Garrett’s friends was calling me out.

[Heads up so you don’t start another fight with him. We’re all here too, it’s just a normal hangout]

I literally laughed out loud. Replied with a simple “k” and tossed my phone aside, then got ready for bed.

In the middle of the night, the lights suddenly turned on and woke me up.

Squinting, I saw Garrett staring straight at me.

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