Bittersweet

Bittersweet: Chapter Seventeen

THIS BOOK IS CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN AND HEAVILY EDITED. NAMES, PLACES, AND SOME SCENES WILL BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. SOME STUFF WILL BE TAKEN OUT AND SOME WILL BE ADDED.

THE INITIAL PLOT STAYS THE SAME.

So, if you begin reading as of 5/21/2021 and choose to read ahead further than I have updated-some things might be confusing or might not make sense. As of right now and will continue, slowly, adding the new chapters as I write them. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN has been rewritten & updated.

**IF A CHAPTER HAS BEEN REWRITTEN/EDITED THE ^^ABOVE^^ NOTE WILL BE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER.

#Mature Content#

Chapter Seventeen

Austin

            31 days.

I'd officially been a resident of Holly Ridge, Mississippi for 31 days and counting.

It had been 12 days since I'd spoken to Hart. 12 long days.

Even I could admit the first few weeks weren't bad. But let me tell you one damn thing-the high I'd felt during those first few weeks came crashing down around me really quick. Elizabeth Hart's cold shoulder was far worse than her god damn right hook. It was like the worst damn hangover I'd ever felt in my entire life. As soon as I'd heard those sweet words flutter from her lips that night, I knew I couldn't let whatever we had going on go any further. No more fucking around- her words sealed the deal. Whatever was going on between the two of us had to end. I was out of here in two months. No matter how nice she felt up under me, I didn't need the headache of a broken-hearted woman on my conscience when I left these dirt roads.

Truthfully, she'd been the only woman I'd ever shown a different side of me-a softer side of me. Even Delia Prescott didn't know me like Eliza did and I'd known her for years. It had only taken her 19 days to get under my skin.

It only took 19 days for her to become an obsession. An addiction. Somehow, that girl had gotten in my head in less than a month. Now, she was all I could think about. Every second of every day she plagued me like a fucking disease.

I knew I'd been harsh that night but that was the point. The disappointment in her eyes was vivid when I sent her away and it downright gutted me, but I needed to be an asshole. Not only had we shared an intense sexual connection, but I really and truly enjoyed her company. She'd made my time here a little less agonizing. And as much as I appreciated that, it wouldn't change things. I needed her to understand that even if there had been something more between us other than sex, it didn't matter. I wasn't willing to change my ways for anyone; much less a woman I'd never see again after all of this was over. When it came down to the bottom line, even if she did see me as the bad guy, it was the only way I knew how to do right by her. And doing right by her was my main concern even if I callously kicked her out of my bedroom and sent her on her way that night.

There wasn't a part of me that wanted to see her hurt at the end of this.

Surprisingly, keeping my distance hadn't been that hard. She'd done the same. She threw herself into work. When she wasn't at that little drive-in diner, she was in the barn with her horses or at the pond. There were many nights she didn't even come home. I knew it because every time she'd leave, I'd be on high alert until she pulled back up. Ellis kept close tabs on her though, and he didn't seem concerned by her absence. So, I shouldn't be either, right? I assumed she'd been staying at Terra's every chance she could get. I wasn't pissed about it. If anything, I felt guilty; mostly because I had a feeling she felt like she couldn't come home because of me. And I didn't want that-the last thing I wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable in her own home.