“Perfectly,” I answered without hesitation. “He’s just delaying the inevitable. There is no way in which I could ever be happy with him.”
“Not at all?” she smirked.
“Not even a little. I would always remember that he cheated on me?—”
“Pretended,” she stressed. “You know there were extenuating circumstances. Why can’t you just forgive him?”
I wanted to. God, I really wanted to. “Because every time I close my eyes, all I see is her in his arms,” I said quietly, still replaying the scene in my head. “And I can’t help but wonder if something really did happen at his house. He was drunk and…”
My gaze flicked involuntarily over to him before returning to Cheyenne. The thoughts flickering through my mind would not be tamed.
“I don’t think I could ever be sure that he’s telling me the truth.”
“But he loves you.”
“Yes, and because of that, do you really think he would tell me if something did happen, knowing it would ruin everything?”
Her hesitation said it all. “I guess not.”
“Trust is the foundation of every relationship. As much as I may want to forgive him, I don’t think I could ever forget. It would haunt me every day, and that’s no way to live.”
“But Bailey…it’s Liam.”
And that’s what hurt most of all. “I know. I just…can’t see a way to get past it.”
A loud scrape of wood against the floor had me twisting in my chair. Liam stood, his eyes flicking to me one last time before he walked out of the bar.
“Do you think he heard us?” Cheyenne hissed.
“If he did, maybe he finally decided to give up and walk away,” I said as I watched the bar door swing shut.
“How can you say that?” she asked.
I knew this was coming. Cheyenne was one hundred percent on Team Liam. She did a good job pretending to support me, but I knew it was only a matter of time before she admitted her true feelings.
“Because he needs to walk away. It’s best for both of us.”
“He may have been wrong, but he was doing it for the right reasons,” Cheyenne hissed. “You’re being selfish, Bailey. That man loves you, and he proved it by doing the hardest thing he ever could have.”
“No, he could have proved he loved me by having enough faith in me to tell me the truth.”
“The man was terrified. He was in the hospital and?—”
“Enough!” I snapped, getting up from the table. “I get it. You all think he’s a saint and I should forgive him. But he broke something in me, Cheyenne. I can’t just push those images out of my mind. I can’t pretend that it never happened when that’s all I see when I close my eyes. He chose to lie to me, and now we both have to deal with the consequences.”
She leaned back in her seat, pursing her lips. “He did it for the right reasons! You’re choosing to let it rule you. If the two of you can’t find your way back to each other, it’s because you’re being stubborn. Not because you feel it’s right. That stubbornness is going to make you miserable for the rest of your life.”
Snatching my purse, I walked out of the bar and away from the one friend I had hoped wouldn’t throw Liam’s love in my face. I needed her support right now more than ever, and her defense of Liam only pushed our friendship into an uncomfortable territory.
“Bailey!” she shouted as I stormed down the sidewalk.
I turned, hoping she would apologize.
“I’m not wrong and you know it. Refusing to admit the truth is only going to ruin your life.”
“I had hoped you of all people would be on my side.”
“I am on your side. Bailey, I only want you to be happy, and the only way that’s going to happen is if you have Liam in your life.”
