That didn’t give Chad a pass for being a two-faced douchebag, though. And once someone lost my trust in such a way, they didn’t get it back.
However, I could acknowledge that I’d gone into this relationship with Loralei for all of the wrong reasons. I’d known it from the start, but I tried to convince myself something real might still come out of it. But nothing would ever make it real.
Because I wantedrealwith Morgan.
I was in love with Morgan.
No matter who came along, there would be no way of giving all of myself when my heart was somewhere else, even if it was unrequited. My relationship with Loralei was my way of forcing myself to let go of any feelings I had and simply forget Morgan, but it didn’t work. I’d been forcing it from the beginning.
And it needed to end.
I walked back to my room, and when I stepped inside, Loralei was sitting on the sofa in the lounge. “Hi, babe. Were you guys out super late? I didn’t hear you come to bed last?—”
“We need to talk,” I cut her off. I didn’t have time for fake pleasantries. I had to get this conversation over with because there was another, much more important one I needed to have.
“Okay…” Loralei’s tone was hesitant.
“I’m just going to be blunt and straight to the point. This—you and I—it needs to end.”
Her brow furrowed. “What?”
“Listen, I dove headfirst into this relationship when I shouldn’t have, and for all the wrong reasons. I was trying to force myself to be in it when the truth is I wasn’t and never would be because I was still holding onto feelings for someone else. And that wasn’t fair to you, and for that, I’m sorry.”
I decided that I wasn’t going to bring up the fact that she had been messing around with Chad. I had my own blame in this, like getting involved in the first place when I had feelings for someone else.
Loralei stared at me, her expression twisting with irritation. “This is about Morgan, isn’t it? You two were together before us, and when I found out that night at the bar, I justknewsomething was still going on between you two!”
I arched my brow. I wasn’t going to lie, but her audacity left me a little stunned. “Yes, it’s about Morgan, but nothing has been going on between us. And we weren’t actually together before, we just…we weren’t together. Did I have feelings for her? Yes. And I still do. But nothing has happened between us sincebeforeshe left for Miami, which was months ago.”
“You expect me to believe that when you saw her last night, and now you’re suddenly breaking things off with me?”
I shrugged. “You don’t have to believe it, but it’s the truth.”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this! I thought we were happy!”
“Seriously?” I scoffed. “I wasn’t even going to bring this up because I was trying to own up to my faults that had more to do with my decision than your own, but you’ve been messing around with Chad for the last few weeks, so you couldn’t havebeen that content in the relationship if that’s what we can even call it.”
Her eyes widened. “Wh-What?”
I gave her a look. “I had enough respect to be honest with you about my blame in this. The least you could do is show me the same.”
“Wes…” Her entire demeanor shifted. “Chad and I…that was nothing.”
“Well, clearly, you and I weren’t either.”
I could tell my indifference was irritating her. “Why are you so calm about this? It’s like you don’t even care!”
“Because I don’t,” I replied matter-of-factly. “We both had our faults. We just need to call this what it is, Loralei.”
“And what’s that?”
“Over.” We stared at one another for a moment before I lightly clapped my hands. “Well, I’m gonna…” I clicked my tongue and threw my thumb over my shoulder towards the door.
“What the hell am I supposed to do? You expect me to stay here with you and your friends when you just broke up with me?” she spat.
“You can stay in this room. I’ll drop by later to get my stuff when I have a room lined up.”
“I’m not staying here! I’m going home!”
