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“Hunter? I—I thought you said you didn’t love her.”
I look up at her again, hurt filling her eyes.
Why won’t she believe me?
“I didn’t.”
“Then what do you mean, when you say it didn’t help with how it felt?”
“I’d been faithful to her. I assumed she’d been faithful to me, so I felt cheated, humiliated. Like a lot of people in that situation, I felt inadequate for a while. But more than all of that, I felt angry.”
“B—Because of what they’d done?”
“No. Because she’d proved my father right.”
She frowns, confusion etched on her perfect face. “Your father? What does any of this have to do with him?”
I reach out, and although I want to hold her, I know I can’t yet, so I take her hands again. “You were right about me…”
“When?”
“When you said I needed to step out from my father’s shadow. I think I’d known it all along, but hearing you say it made me realize…”
“Realize what?”
“That I’d been doing things all my life, just to spite him. Sadie was one of them. Dad spent years criticizing my way of life, and for a long time, that made me live it even harder. I’m not proud of it, but I went through a phase where I never saw the same woman twice, simply because Dad had told me I needed to settle down. That’s where the ‘playboy’ tag came from. The problem was, it was exhausting, and I didn’t even enjoy it very much.”
“But you kept doing it anyway?”
“Yes. I had to do the opposite of what he wanted. I had to rebel… at least until I met Sadie and realized there was another way to get back at him.”
“Which was?”
“To date her. To date someone he’d really hate.”
“So you went out with Sadie because you knew your dad wouldn’t like her? Is that what you’re saying?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
She frowns at me. “You used her?”
“Not really. I know it sounds that way, but it wasn’t. I liked her, Livia, even if I didn’t love her. She had a great sense of humor, she was easy to talk to, and like I said, we got along with each other… even if she was screwing my best friend behind my back. All the same, I knew my father would never approve of me dating someone who worked in a bar. I knew he’d never look beyond her job, or her background, or her address, and that’s exactly what he did. Right from the moment he found out about her, he didn’t disappoint. He’d never met her, but he immediately said she was bad news. That was when I invited her to move in with me.”
“To spite him?”
“Naturally. After that, he told me she’d cheat, and then sent me to Europe hoping to prove himself right. The day before I left, he told me I might as well make the most of my time away, because Sadie wouldn’t be faithful in my absence. I remember telling her about that conversation when I got home from the office that afternoon. I was due to fly out the next morning, and she reassured me she’d never cheat. She was lying, of course. She was already seeing Austin behind my back and proving my dad right in the process. When I fought with Dad about it, after I got back, I didn’t mention that Sadie and Austin had already been cheating. Instead, I told him it was his fault for sending me away. I wanted him to realize what he’d done… even if he hadn’t. I suppose I stupidly hoped he might regret his actions, and his words.”
“And did he?”
“No. He just smirked and reminded me he’d predicted her infidelity in the first place, and wondered why I was so surprised by it.”
“What did you do?”
“I told him I was done playing games, and I left.”
“And after that?”
“Well… obviously, Sadie moved out of my apartment. I removed the sex swing and repaired the ceiling, and I went to work for Moss and Dixon. I didn’t see anyone, though.”
