This time Cleo laughed out loud. “I can’t even remember how you did that.”
“Neither can I.” I grabbed my purse. “See you in a bit.”
I hung up just as my phone signaled that the battery was low. I checked the battery life and saw that I had twelve unread texts from Oakley. The nerve that son of bitch had, thinking he still had the right to fucking contact me. The thought of him made me sick to my stomach as I scrolled through his messages one by one.
“You have no one but yourself to blame for what happened.”
“You think I’m the bad guy? I’m not the one who whored myself to the first fucking guy who gave me a little attention.”
“You know you deserved it. You deserve to be slutified and humiliated.”
“Why are you not answering my texts? I’m not the one in the wrong here, and you know it.”
“We were meant to be together forever. We made a vow that we’d never let anything come between us, and then you chose to believe some stupid fucking rumor over me.”
“You want me to apologize for what I did? Fine. I’m sorry. I fucked up, but I was just so fucking jealous and hurt. I couldn’t help myself. I do stupid shit when I’m angry, firefly. You know that. At least I didn’t tell anyone it was him.”
“I want you back, firefly.”
“Please talk to me. I’m going crazy here.”
“I’ll grovel if you need me to. Just please fucking talk to me. I know we can figure this out. We always do. You and I, we’re meant to be together.”
“You’re still hellbent on punishing me, aren’t you? You’re probably with him right now. Fucking him. Letting him put his filthy hands on what’s fucking mine.”
“You’re nothing but a rich bitch.”
“You’ll regret it, Sienna. I swear to God, you’ll regret it.”
Nausea crept up my throat. I hated this. I hated him. Just thinking about him had the hair at the back of my neck stand up, and I found it almost impossible to believe that I loved him once. At least, I thought I did.
I deleted all his messages and blocked his number. We were no longer together. I didn’t have to deal with his crap anymore. But warning bells kept on going off inside my head, telling me that I wasn’t free of him yet.
After taking a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, I walked out of the house just as Noah got into his truck.
Christ. I didn’t even think that far. If Cleo stayed here for a while, that meant I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep in the cottage with Noah anymore. It wasn’t like I minded if everyone knew about us. Spencer already knew, but I wasn’t sure about Silas. I hadn’t seen him ever since Oakley went all psycho on my ass and humiliated me.
But on the other hand, what Noah and I shared was the only thing I had that was just mine. And I wasn’t sure whether I was ready to share that with the world—especially if there was a big chance that once Noah did what he came here to do, he’d leave, and whatever we had between us would be over.
God, the thought alone crushed my heart little by little from the inside out.
“Where you headed?” I asked as I approached his truck. His lecherous stare drifted down my body, from the sleeves of the beige summer dress I wore to the hem of the skirt and down my naked legs.
“Up here, Casanova.”
He grinned. “You can’t expect me to look you in the eye when you’re wearing a dress like that.”
“I expect you to look me in the eye even when I’m naked.”
“I have a soft spot for redheads and a dick that controls my eye movement. I can’t promise anything.”
I leaned with my elbows against the open window of his truck. “Where you headed?”
“I need new paintbrushes and some cable ties.”
My thighs clenched. “I’d ask you why, but I’m going to pretend that you need those items for the work you’re doing in the cottage.”
He gripped the steering wheel, blue eyes flashing with mischief. “That’s exactly what I need it for.”