“Oh, like you told me the truth about leaving?”
Mace glances at me and his shoulders sag in defeat. “He told you?”
“Yeah, something it seems you weren’t intending on doing. So, what was the plan, Mace? Just hop on a plane back to Australia and send me a fucking postcard?”
“What does it matter? Nothing I do is ever gonna be enough.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means I’m fucking crazy about you, but I can’t compete with your best friend. No one can.”
“It’s not a competition.”
“Yeah, it is.” He shakes his head and gives a humorless laugh. “I was fucked from the second I saw you, because I knew you were in love with him, just like he’s in love with you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Babe.” Mace cups my cheeks and glances down at me. “You think I don’t realize what he is to you, but I do. I see it every time your eyes light up when he walks in the room. You love him more than a friend.”
I shake my head. “That’s not true. Maybe once, but that’s done with. I love you. I’m with you.”
“No, you’re not with me. If you were with me, you wouldn’t be kissing him.”
“I pushed him away.”
He smiles, but it’s a tortured, bitter impersonation. “Yeah, and you left the door wide open while he dry humped you against the wall.”
“Mace.”
“I’m going back to Australia, Lo. It’s not a choice. I don’t wanna leave but my visa is up. I’d ask you to come with me, but I know you’d never be happy there.”
“Why wouldn’t I be happy?”
“Because Gabe isn’t there.” His throat bobs and as I glance up into those incredible eyes, tears spill over mine. “I knew what I was getting into when I slept with you. I knew you were in love with him, that you’d always be in love with him. I knew I didn’t stand a goddamn chance, but I fell for you anyway. I just didn’t realize it would hurt this much when you left me.”
“I haven’t left you. I’m not the one returning home without even discussing it with you.”
“What’s to discuss?”
“Our future, our relationship. Where we go from here.”
“We don’t go anywhere from here, at least not together. I go home to Australia, and you stay here, orbiting Gabe’s world the way you always have.”
“Mace—”
He holds a hand up to stop me. “When he kisses you, does it feel like kissing me?”
“No, because I’m not kissing you. I’m kissing—”
“The love of your fuckin’ life.”
Frustrated tears spring to my eyes. “Don’t put words in my mouth, that’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean? When you kiss Gabe, do you want more? Do you want to fuck him?”
“I’m not answering that.” I shake my head and fold my arms over my chest. “I refuse to do this with you.”
“Yes or no?”