Too Pretty to Be Your Backup novel Chapter 96

“I’ll let her cool off. Once she’s had some time to think, this whole thing will blow over.”

Mateo groaned and buried his face in his hands. He genuinely felt hopeless for Travis.

Unbelievable. The guy was a total disaster when it came to relationships.

Mateo looked up, fixing Travis with a serious stare. “You keep saying she needs to cool down and think. But what exactly do you want her to think about? What is it you’re hoping she’ll figure out?”

He started to mimic what Amanda might be thinking. “‘Oh, Travis will totally choose me over Leila. I mean, I’m his fiancée, right?’ ‘Wait, except we’re not even engaged, so I’m not really his fiancée.’ ‘Travis always treats Leila differently. Every single time, he picks her over me. He even traded me for Leila once. Why would he ever give her up for me?’”

Travis' expression darkened with every word. His jaw clenched, and the mood in the room got heavier.

“Enough,” Travis snapped, cutting him off. “She doesn’t think like that.”

Mateo patted him on the shoulder. “That’s what you think—but you’re not her. Travis, you can’t just assume everyone sees things the way you do. And let’s be real, girls are sensitive. She loves you, but if all she gets from you is coldness and disappointment, that love is going to run out eventually.”

“And honestly, what you’re doing right now? It’s called giving someone the cold shoulder. That’s emotional neglect, man.”

For the first time, Travis' confident mask slipped, doubt and regret flickering across his face.

Mateo sighed inwardly. “If you go back and try to make it up to her now, you might still have a shot.”

He only said that to comfort Travis, out of loyalty to their years of friendship. But honestly, if he were Amanda, and Travis had tossed him aside for Leila, he would’ve quit hoping long ago.

Leila marched straight up to her, fuming. “Amanda, what did you do? Why is Travis ignoring me? I’ve been in the hospital for days and he hasn’t visited once. Did you say something to him?”

Amanda was already exhausted. She was still a patient, for crying out loud, and needed rest. Besides, she was certain Leila had played a part in what happened to her.

“Oh, Travis isn’t talking to you? Not visiting? Maybe you should ask yourself what you did wrong. Maybe you weren’t sweet enough. Maybe you just annoyed him.”

“That’s not it!” Leila shot back. “Travis spoils me. He’d never ignore me like this unless you were making trouble. I know you are him away on purpose! This is all your fault!”

Amanda had officially run out of patience. She wasn’t Travis; she had no reason to put up with Leila’s drama.

A sly, not-so-nice smile crept across her face. “Oh, he won’t see you? Maybe it’s because he thinks you’re failthy.”