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“He’s none of your damn business.” I stride through my bedroom and into the bathroom where I left his engagement ring on the counter.
Chris is on my heels the whole way, and when I turn to confront him, I bump into his chest. He steadies me by gripping my arms. “Tell me he doesn’t matter.” The challenge in his voice is unmistakable. So is the hurt and anger.
“He matters,” I say, words mangled as I try to put a lid on my emotions. Stepping back until he lets go of me, I hold out the ring. “And this…” I falter,heartbeat throbbing in my chest. “It doesn’t belong to me.”
He shakes his head, stubborn as ever. “Who else does it belong to? I bought it for you.”
“But you didn’t give it to me until now. Why do you think that is?”
“Don’t hold the past over my head like that. You don’t see me holding Perry over yours.”
Taking his hand, I push the ring into his palm and fold his fingers around what could have been. “What I did that night shadows me no matter where I go. I know I hurt you.” I pause, swallowing hard. “But you were right to leave. We should have called it quits a long time ago.”
He grabs me by the nape, breath shuddering across my lips. “I should have grown the fuck up and put you first. There is so much shit I should have done, but leaving wasn’t one of them. Leaving was the biggest fucking mistake I ever made.”
I close my eyes and breathe, willing my body to stop trembling—to search for strength, because the truest depth of honesty is a bitch, and it stings something fierce.
“And staying would have been the biggest mistake I would have made.”
His expression crumbles. “Jules…”
I push past him and head to the front door with him on my heels. “I want you to go back to Oklahoma.”
“Don’t do this. You’re reacting out of fear. Or he’s gotten inside your head. Just think about it. This guy can’t be so important that you’d throw us away like this.”
As I swing the door open, the finality of this moment hits me.
The harsh truth of it.
Cash is more important to me than Chris ever was, even in the midst of our happiest times. I’m not sure what that says about me, but I can’t deny the irrevocable pull I feel toward Cash.
“I’m sorry.”
“So that’s it? You’re sorry?” he seethes. “Are you seriously not even going to try to work this out?”
“We can work on being friends, but that’s all I can give you.” I pull the door open wider and give him a pointed look, but behind my cool facade, I’m shaking inside. Confrontations with Chris never fail to drain me, and I already feel myself sinking into despondency.
For several seconds, he doesn’t move, too busy grinding his teeth. Then he storms out of my apartment, and after he disappears from sight, I let the tears fall.
