"They all see me as the same," Ruan whispered to himself. He had lost count of how many times he'd repeated those words since Jax stormed out of his room, leaving a hollow ache in his chest.
He tossed and turned, dragging himself from the bed to pace the room, only to collapse back onto the mattress.
Jax's words haunted him, and he couldn't stop replaying them in his head. "This is why you don't have any friends!" The accusation reverberated in his mind.
Ruan shouldn't have been shocked. Everyone always painted him as the villain, the one who pushed too hard, felt too much, and cared about no one but himself. But hearing those words from Jax, someone he'd begun to let past his carefully built walls, stung with a betrayal he hadn't anticipated.
Had he overdone it? He knew his behavior had been excessive lately, his emotions spilling over in ways he couldn't rein in. He hadn't realized Jax saw him that way, judged him for his unguarded moments.
