“You’re still leaving?”
“You expected me to stay?”
“But I was honest with you.”
“After the fact.” I was dumbfounded by his words – how did he honestly expect me to stay? That just revealing the truth would undo everything and make things right? “And you even brought her here to chat. In ourhome.” I put so much emphasis on the last word. “You know, the home you and I made together. There are a hundred other places to go but you had her here. Gross.”
I stomped over to the bedroom and grabbed a weekend bag from the closet, slamming a few random items in before filling the rest of the space with my personal effects from the bathroom.
“Where are you going?” His voice was heavy in worry.
“It doesn’t matter. You lost the ability to have any more information about me when you admitted to cheating. You should have broken up with me on the Monday before you went to go and bang Jasmine.”
“But I didn’t know it was going to happen. It was a fluke thing.”
“And now you’ll be paying for it for the rest of your life. Is she claiming child expenses?”
“She’s not like that. She’s a nice lady when you get to know her.”
“Ugh. I can’t believe you’d think I’d ever consider that. What is wrong with you?”
“Please don’t walk away. Please don’t leave me.” Mitch had stepped to the side; the door was free for me to go through it.
“You don’t get a say in what I do anymore.” My hand wrapped around the doorknob.
“Cedar, please. I love you.”
I loved you too.
But I couldn’t say the words. My heart was breaking into a million pieces. Instead of looking into his eyes, I opened the door and left.
Chapter Ten
“I’ll break his bloody neck.” Amber paced in her living room. Her apartment was above the pub, so when I arrived at the bar with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks, she escorted me up, leaving her assistant in charge. “I swear to God if he shows his face around here, I’ll kick his ass.”
“Don’t.” I loved Mitch, and as much as I wanted him to hurt, it had to come from me. By walking out and leaving him defeated, it was a start. “Don’t bother.”
“What did I tell you? All men are filthy pigs.”
I burst into tears. Maybe some guys were, but Mitch wasn’t. He’d been nothing less than perfect for me. He treated me right, he took care of me, he loved me with abandon. However, he had made a mistake and by not being honest about it, it cost him. Because he lied about it. Because he had an affair when we were together. It cost us. The worst part was hearing him breathe out how he never wanted children. What was I going to do now?
Amber fell onto the couch beside me. “Men are jerks. Every. Single. Guy.”
“Not all, I promise.”
“Yep. Think Lily caught the last good guy.”
“They really are cute together.” Even though my last visit with them was brief, it was easy to tell how well they fit together. Cliché, but true, they were like pieces of a puzzle. And now they have a baby, although the kid was Lily’s, and not biologically Eric’s. “Have you met the little one yet?”
“Nah. We’re not that close. Lily and I go way back, but I think she’d rather forget.”
“You knew Lily back then?”
I hadn’t been privy to much about her teenage years, butshe had mentioned how much of a spoiled brat she was, and how reckless she’d been with her youth. It was hard picturing her that way when all I saw was the sweetness in her and the way she made Eric happy.
“We never ran in the same circles, but our paths crossed a few times. She was a trust fund brat, whereas I needed to prove I could swim in a sea of blood thirsty sharks.” There was bitterness on the tip of her tongue, but it was brief. “But whatever. I don’t hold a grudge against her, and I think she made amends to her past. At least she owned up to it.”
Amber held grudges, but they were against her family, namely the brother that committed suicide and the parents who no longer talked with her – something I completely understood after being outcasted.