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“Mace, I hate to break it to you, but you already knew he’d fucked random girls before. This isn’t news.” Amber tossed her hand behind us, in the direction of the bar. “And didn’t he say you weren’t one of those girls?”
“Yes, but this girl was warning me,” I said, making it clear I hadn’t believed the girl’s worries for me. “Said how Connor would treat me and how he’d leave me. And I would’ve dismissed her, but she...she reminded me of something I forgot.”
The tears finally fell, but I wasn’t sure if they were because I was upset with Connor or angry at myself for letting this happen.
“He called all of his hookups Sweetheart,” I said through the knot in my throat. “That’s what he calls me.”
Amber stayed silent until we made it to Aaron’s apartment complex. Once I pulled to a stop in front of his building, she twisted to face me. Her voice was careful when she said, “Maybe he just—”
“Amber, I know for a fact he called those girls that because he didn’t want to bother remembering their names since they wouldn’t be around long. I just don’t know how I’d forgotten that until tonight.”
“But he knows your name.”
“He’s also known me for most of our lives and usually only picks up girls in bars.”
Nearly a minute passed in strained silence until Amber squeezed my hand and opened the door. “Call me tomorrow. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I fought the tears and the overwhelming devastation as I drove home because, logically, I knew I had no one to blame but myself.
I’d known I was in too deep before we even began. I’d known it wasn’t the same for him as it was for me. I’d tried to hold onto that knowledge and continuously slipped into a place where Connor Green wanted me for more than my body.
But just as I stumbled into my bedroom and began undressing, the sounds of Connor charging into my apartment had me stilling with my shoe in my hand.
“Maci!”
I tossed my shoe aside so I wouldn’t do something I would regret later—like throw it at him—and turned expectantly toward my door.
“What the hell?” he snapped as he stormed through the hallway.
“‘Sweetheart?’” I sneered as he reached the doorway. “Really?”
Connor came to such a sudden halt that it would’ve been comical if I weren’t doing everything to keep from crying again. “Wait, what?” he asked, blinking quickly as if, of everything, that was the last thing he’d expected me to say.
“You call me ‘Sweetheart.’”
An exasperated sound left him as he clearly scrambled to figure out what was happening. “And? What does that have to do with you telling me to go to Hell and walking away from me?”
“Because I was stopped just outside the bathroom by one of your random fucks,” I snapped. “And you know as well as I do what you called all of them.”
“Maci—”
“I can’t believe I was stupid enough to forget you called them that.” A belittling laugh tumbled from me as I pressed a hand to my chest. “I was honestly just so happy we were finally together that I didn’t think twice about the pet name. I actually loved it,” I admitted. “But as she was so kind to remind me, it isn’t just me you call that. And you’ll say all the right things and make me feel special for a little while before leaving me like you did them.”
“Them,” Connor echoed in a tone that rang with warning. “I’ve told you from the beginning that you weren’t like any other girl.”
“And yet—”
“No,” he snapped over me. “I’m sorry calling you that made you doubt for a fucking second what you mean to me, but you know you’re different.” He took a couple steps forward as he listed off things I refused to fall for again. “You’re the only girl I’ve ever let stay over. I can barely make it through a shift because all I can think about is wanting to get home so I can be with you. For fuck’s sake, Maci, I’ve been going out of my goddamn mind all day because you were mad at me, and I—” A strained sound that was defeat and frustration burst from him, his head shaking as he studied me.
“Fuck it,” he whispered before reclaiming the steps he’d just taken. “You’re not hearing me, and you won’t believe me because this is what you’ve been waiting for. A reason to push me away for good because you’re too scared to let this happen.”
A patronizing scoff left me even though he’d called me out so perfectly. “You found me out, Connor. Congratulations.” Waving to the doorway just behind him, I said, “You obviously know the way out, so have an awesome fucking life, Sweetheart.”
Connor turned to leave but stopped with a shaky hand on the doorframe. Pushing himself back into my room, he quickly closed the distance between us and pulled me into his embrace as his mouth fell to mine.
My hands automatically went to his chest to push him away, but he only shifted me in his hold. Curling a hand around one cheek and banding the other arm around the small of my back, keeping me close as determined blue eyes met mine.
