Free The Arrangement (New Hampshire Bears Novella) by Mary Smith Page B

time again my life has been planned by someone else, but not this time. I’m taking over. If Vance wants this, it’ll be on my terms or I’ll go home, find a job, and begin a different path than I originally planned.
    “I want to talk now,” I state firmly, adjusting myself in the chair, facing him. “We most definitely should talk now.”
    The pained expression on his face deepens. “Whatever you want to say or do, I will understand.”
    “I’m hurt, angry, and hurt.”
    Vance opens his mouth, but I throw up my hand.
    “Don’t say it. I’m well aware I said hurt twice, but it’s what I feel the most. Also, I gave my word to you to remain faithful and pure while you were gone; no matter what you were off doing.” I jump up from the chair and pace.
    “Dacey—”
    “Stop. Until I’m done, stop talking.” I pace more. “I have gone to school and come home. I never went to parties or gatherings not approved by my parents. I definitely couldn’t go to any with boys there. I had to beg my mum and dad to let me choose my own major, which,” I sigh, “ended up being nothing but a simple general education degree because I didn’t want to tell them my real choice so I wouldn’t have to hear them complain about it.” I realize my voice is rising, and I stop pacing to look at him.
    “Dacey I’m so sorry everything is falling apart.” He seems genuinely saddened. “However, I’ve never been so happy and grateful as I was to see you at the airport. I fucked up and not talking to you made me understand how much.”
    I sit back in the chair, resting my elbows on my knees, holding my head in my hands. No, it’s not a very lady-like position, but my head really is pounding from the stress of my life. Is there a solution to give us a happy ending? Or is this wasting both of our time?
    “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”
    I lift my head. “What Vance? We could easily part ways and forget all about this. You can stay here and be with whoever you want. I can go back to Belfast and see if there’s a job out there I’m qualified for. And we’d be…done.” Saying the word broke my heart a bit. Is done what I want? I’ve spoken to Vance almost every day for the past eleven years. I already knew how I felt not talking to him the past week. Now, imaging every day feels weird. I told him if I came here I’d give it a go, but now I’m more confused now.
    “I don’t want to be done, Dacey,” Vance states. “You might not believe this, but you are the one person I can count on in my life.”
    I shake my head. “You’re lying. Sure we’ve chatted or whatever you want to call it, but you never told me anything. Maybe you would miss our three minutes conversations, but there’s nothing else.”
    “I care for you, Dacey. You must know it.”
    “But I don’t know.”
    Vance drops his head. “How can I prove it to you?”
    Before I can answer him, a knock comes, and he goes to the door. On the other side is Gerald telling him he needs to get ready for his media interviews. When Vance comes back over to me, he says nothing. He just gives me a small smile and heads off to change into his suit, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Chapter Twelve
    Vance
     
    Interview after interview, I keep up my excitement about the draft tomorrow. Yes I am, but Dacey weighs heavy on my mind. Since she walked away from me at the wedding, all I’ve done is work out and hide in Apollo’s spare room.
    Then it came to me what I real wanker I’d been. Selfish. Inconsiderate. A downright prick is the way I describe myself. I treated Dacey worse. All my life I’d seen the way my parents were, and I promised myself it wouldn’t be me.
    How quickly I forgot?
    For all my life, my parents have put on this façade of the perfect family. It’s all been lies, and we knew it. Their word means nothing to me, but I want to be better. If, or when, I have kids I want to support them, care for them, and above all, love them.
    And their