Page 29 of Revel
My heart pounded in my chest, every beat painful and a reminder of who held the power now. I stepped forward, pressing my chest to hers. Dropping my eyes from hers, they landed on her body, touched by another man. Betrayal was a funny thing. No matter who it was done by, the result was the same. It changed something inside you. “I can’t fucking believe you,” I sneered, unable to control the sudden elevation of my voice. I grabbed the front of her dress, fisting fabric. “You fucked up. You know that?”
“I know I did.”
“Do you have any idea what kind of shit storm this is going to cause for us? He’s your fucking manager, not to mention fucking married, Hensley. Did you think about any of that before you spread your goddamn legs?”
“You’re overreacting. It didn’t mean anything.” Her eyes dropped because for her, nothing was ever her fault. “And you’re not placing this blame all on me.” She stepped back, creating distance.
I hadn’t finished yet. Not a fucking chance. “I’m not the one who slept with someone else.”
“Yeah, you’ve always been faithful,” she replied, sarcasm lining her vicious tone. “I fucking hate you sometimes. You can be such a goddamn hypocrite.”
“Yet it’s your actions that have you knocked up and alone.”
Her face fell, the reality of my words sinking in. “I’m still standing here, aren’t I? I haven’t gone anywhere!”
My hand found her shoulder, pushing her back. “Leave. I don’t want you here.” When she didn’t move, I placed my palm flat against her chest, above where her heart no longer beats for me. “I never want to see you again.”
“That’s going to be difficult in this industry.”
I swallowed heavily, and I wanted to stop, shut up, but my breaking point was fast approaching. “Okay, let me rephrase it. You’re dead to me.”
My words hit. Her lashes flickered, tears surfacing. “Over one lapse in judgment?”
I held up my phone. The picture of her and Ash at a bar two nights ago. “Don’t lie.”
Another flicker. “I’m not.”
I took a step back, my arms spread wide. “You act as though your word means something.” Patting my pockets, I pulled out a cigarette.
She watched the smoldering cigarette dangling from my lips. “Why do you always have to be so mean? I’m trying to be honest with you here.”
Honest? Panic coiled in my stomach, tension burrowing in my temples. I knew this was coming the moment I saw them together six months ago. Truth was, I did nothing to stop it.
I reached up, removing the cigarette from my mouth, a bitter laugh escaping my parted lips. “You should relay that message to your pussy.”
She broke eye contact, twisting her head to the side and giving me a view of her side profile. I thought about the girl on the street. The one I met so long ago with knotted hair and clinging to a spiral notebook with her heart spilled over ripped pages. But this girl in front of me, she wasn’t the same. She wasn’t the one who made my heart constrict.
When her gaze returned, she didn’t say anything in words. My face was suddenly between her palms. I hated the way just the touch of her hands sent my heart thumping. “I don’t love him. Not like I love you.” She wasn’t saying these words to me because she wanted me to take her back. She was saying them to make herself feel better. Well, fuck that.
I blew smoke in her face. “He wouldn’t leave his wife, would he?”
She shrugged one shoulder, her future unpredictable and she knew it. Everything we thought we’d have together swirled in the heaviness between us. She knew she’d fucked up. I didn’t forgive. It wasn’t in my nature.
Leaning in, I brushed my lips to hers, the faintest of touches to seal the darkness leaking from the cracks of her tempest heart. I wanted her to kiss me back because she truly wanted to, because she needed to, because she loved me. . . but that world no longer existed for us. I would bow to no one. Something inside me screamed. I should’ve backed down. I should’ve walked away.
Before she could make sense of my touch, I stepped back. My hands shook when I replaced my cigarette between my lips. Drawing in a breath, I pushed her away.
Her eyes dissected the absence of my warmth, if not before her deceiving ways, they did now. “It’s over?” she asked, tears falling freely now.
The sharpness of what followed was expected, but truthful. My silence. I nodded, and this time, no further words were spoken.
Her expression shattered knowing I wasn’t going to change my mind. I couldn’t. She cheated on me and worse than that, she was having his baby.
Though I certainly didn’t plan on marrying Hensley, I hadn’t imagined my life with anyone else. For me, she was the one. Until now. Until nothing could possibly change my mind.
A month later, she lost the baby. I can’t say I’m relieved because it didn’t change anything.
And now she wants me back.
