I step away from his arms. “So, you finally get together with the woman you love, then some jackass comes storming through your happy ending, burning it to the ground. And instead of taking five fucking minutes to ask a damn question about it, making sure it was true - by asking the woman you claim to love - you believe said jackass and move the fuck on? Thatexcusesounds like something out of a bad movie, and it’s a flaming pile of bullshit.”
“Excuse? I don’t understand.”
“You might have believed the bullshit from Owen’s mouth, but I didn’t believe you would stand me up,” my chest clenches as I share the ugly truth with him. “When you didn’t show, I assumed something happened to you. I figured you got called in, or you fell asleep, or something. I trusted you with my life. So, I went home, got some sleep, figuring you’d tell me all about it the next day. It would be a simple misunderstanding, and we’d laugh about it. It would be something we’d tell our kids someday.”
I choke over that last sentence.
“The next day, I waited for the call. The call where you’d explain what was going on. That call never came. Once again, I’m hoping for the best. Giving you the benefit of the fucking doubt. Your phone wasn’t working. You’re in a meeting. Something. Because there was no way in hell that my best friend, the man Itrustedmore than any other person in the fucking world, would stand me up after what we did. I had to see you in person,” I can’t stop the tears from falling down my face at this point. And I stopped caring.
His brows furrow, then realization dawns on his face.
“That’s right. Isawyou,” I spit out. “With her.”
Aaron’s eyes widen. “Sabine?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not what it looked like.”
“Looked like a date to me.”
He shakes his head. “She was friends with my mother. Mom arranged for me to escort Sabine to a fundraiser. That’s it.”
“It didn’t look like an arrangement,” I yell. “It looked like you were fucking each other!”
I throw my hands up and stomp down the fire access road. I’ve had enough of the bullshit. I can’t look at his face anymore while he lies to me.
Aaron catches up to me and grabs my wrist. “Camellia. Did you get a good look at my face that night?”
I spin to look at him now. “No. I saw you touching another womanwho looks a lot like me. Your hand on the small of her back. Her hands all over you.”
“But you didn’t look at my face,” Aaron shakes his head. “You didn’t see the devastation in my eyes. I didn’t want to be out that night. Especially not with Sabine. She may resemble you, but she wasn’t you. And I couldn’t have you. You were engaged to Owen.”
“For the last fucking time, I wasn’t engaged to Owen!”
“But you did agree to marry him after you moved,” Aaron points out.
Well, shit.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Yes. A year after I left Flamingo Cove, I agreed to marry Owen. Because the man I loved married someone else.”
Aaron grabs his chest and steps back from me. “You loved me.”
I punch him in the arm. “Still fucking do, you dense idiot.”
