I still couldn’t believe Josh was here after everything. But I had cut him out after seeing that photo, and I knew that we probably needed to sit down and talk like adults.
My stomach churned as I walked down the hall, my hands trembling. Because Josh wasn’t the only one in the wrong here. I was too. Things had gotten so messed up along the way, and I’d had sex with Aiden.
I’d—
“Dayna,” Josh’s voice gave me little comfort.
“Hey.”
“Thank fuck. I’ve been worried sick.”
“Really?” I wrapped my arms around myself, keeping a physical barrier between us. “You sure have a funny way of showing it.”
“Can I come in? So we can talk?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We can talk outside.”
“Outside?” His eyes flickered with annoyance. “I drove all this way, and you want to talk outside?”
“It’s barely a ninety-minute drive.”
“Fine, whatever.” He stalked off, and I followed, making a beeline for the swinging bench on the porch. I sat down, but Josh stayed standing. “You didn’t return my calls or texts,” he said.
“Because I have nothing to say.”
“Dayna, that’s not fair.”
“Fair?” I scoffed, feeling the bitter sting of his betrayal. “You fucked some other girl days after telling me you wanted space.”
“I… it was a mistake. I was drunk, and she was—”
“A mistake?” Bitter laughter spilled out of me, but his words still hurt. “Why are you here, Josh?”
“Because I love you.” He rushed over to me and sat down beside me, taking my hand in his. It didn’t comfort me like it used to. “Because I want us to be together.”
“We want different things. I see that now.”
“Dayna, come on. We can’t just throw away eight months together because—”
“I slept with someone,” I blurted out.
“W-what?” He bolted upright, glaring at me.
“It was after we ended things.”
“You ended things,” he sneered, “not me. I didn’t want that.”
“You had sex with another woman, Josh. You chose that.”
“So you went out and decided to fuck some guy like a whore—”
“You need to watch it,” a voice said, and Aiden stepped out from the shadows at the side of the house.
“You,” Josh’s expression turned murderous, and a ripple went through the air. “It was you.”
“Aiden, you should go inside. This doesn’t concern—”
“Not going to happen, freckles. He doesn’t get to talk to you like that.”