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Tipping his chin toward the ceiling, he shakes his head sluggishly. “Fuck…”
Folding my arms across my chest, I prepare myself for battle. “Now would be the time you explain everything, starting with who exactly you were on the phone with.”
Sam has three seconds, three seconds to tell me everything before I detonate, and it will be far from pretty.
“Would you please sit?”
“No, I will not sit,” I counter stubbornly. A sigh gathers at the back of his throat from frustration. Join the club. But I’m way past frustrated.
He is collecting his thoughts. I can see it. Whatever he has to tell me is big. “Sophia.”
The moment her name spills from his lips, I want to be sick. “What about her?”
“I was on the phone with Sophia,” he explains, finally meeting my eyes.
“Why?” His silence is doing him no favors. “Why, Sam?” I scream, on the verge of hysteria.
“Because I’m done. I’m done lying!” His voice booms through the room. It’s filled with anger, but most of all, it’s laced with defeat.
But screw him. He doesn’t have the choice to surrender now. He started this war, and now, it’s time we finished it. Storming forward, I act on pure instinct and slap his cheek with all my might. My hand burns, but the sting unlocks a small piece of my soul.
He cups his cheek, moving his jaw from side to side. “I guess I deserved that.”
“You deserve a lot more, you lying son of a bitch! So, the blackouts? The headaches? The accident? This fucking cast! It’s all lies? It’s all fake?” I grip his wrist, yanking his allegedly broken arm upward. “Answer me!”
“Yes.”
One single word can change your life forever. And I know that word was the word I should have uttered to Saxon weeks ago.
“How could you?” I gasp, hot, angry tears threatening to spill free.
“I did it because I love you.”
“Don’t you dare. Don’t you fucking dare! I am done hearing that. You don’t love me. If you did, you wouldn’t lie to me time and time again!” My entire body is shaking with rage.
When he moves toward me, I recoil backward, fearing I will slap him again. He is acquainted with my scalding wrath and stays put. “Yes, you’re right,” he confesses. “My arm isn’t broken because I never had an accident. The blackouts, the headaches, they were all a ploy to win you back. To make you stay.”
Oh, my god. I cover my mouth, sickened beyond belief.
“I never called Hayley when I said I was going to. You’re right about that. I spoke to her after you emailed her. But before you slap me again, listen to the reason.”
I clench my fists, unable to make any promises.
“I didn’t call her because I wanted you to see reason… I wanted you to see that you still love me.”
“And you thought it would take eight weeks to convince me?”
He ignores my sarcasm. “I wanted you to realize what you’d be losing.”
Nothing but sincerity shines in his blue gray eyes, but it’s too late. “That was your plan all along, wasn’t it? To stay. You never intended to leave. You never intended to accept us being just friends.”
“I needed to show you that you still have feelings for me. You’re so stubborn, Lucy. It was the only way.”
“The only way?” I scoff, shaking my head furiously. “How about telling me the truth for once?”
“Would you have listened? I did what I had to, and I have no regrets. I’d lie, cheat, and steal for you. I’m not ashamed of that fact.” His arrogance ticks me off even more because he doesn’t seem to realize the damage his lies have done.
However, as I process everything he’s just exposed, a moving picture flickers before me of all the times I felt a pang of jealousy and longing. Oh, my god. How stupid could I have been?
