“You don’t mean that.” He moves closer again. Too close. I can smell his cologne. The expensive kind he only wears for special occasions. “You’re just hurt. I get it. I hurt you. But we can work through this. Couples therapy, like your mom suggested.”
“You talked to my mom about couples therapy?” I look at her. “You’ve been talking to him? Coordinating with him?”
Mom has the grace to look uncomfortable. “He called us. He was worried about you. We were all worried about you.”
“Because I left him?”
“Because you’ve been acting erratically,” Dad chimes in. “Driving to the mountains alone during a storm. Sharing a cabin with that man …”
“Jax,” I snap. “His name is Jax.”
“That man,” Dad continues like I didn’t speak. “Chett told us you were ... intimate with him, while you were still engaged.”
The room tilts.
“An affair?” My voice is quiet now. Dangerous. “He told you I had an affair?”
“You were sleeping with him days after breaking up with me,” Chett says, and now there’s an edge to his voice. The mask slipping. “You were still wearing my ring when you drove up there.”
“I took the ring off before I left Denver.”
“Semantics.” He waves a hand dismissively. “The point is, you barely know this guy, and you’re throwing away our entire relationship for him. That’s not rational. This is not you.”
“You don’t get to tell me what’s me.” I’m shaking harder now. “You don’t get to tell me anything. You lost that right when you fucked Brittany.”
“It was a mistake!” Chett yells at me.
“I don’t care.” I’m screaming now. Don’t care who hears. “Every time you fucked her, that was a choice. Every time you lied to my face, that was a choice. Every time you blamed me for your actions, that was a choice. So don’t you dare stand there and act like I’m the one who ruined this.”
Silence falls.
Maggie looks proud of me. Mom looks like she might cry. Dad looks uncomfortable. And Chett ... Chett looks angry. Really angry.
“You’re really going to do this?” His voice is cold. “You’re going to choose him over me? Some random hick you barely know?”
“Don’t call him that.”
“What else should I call him? Your rebound? Your midlife crisis?” He laughs bitterly. “Because that’s what this is, Sloane. You’re having a breakdown and making terrible decisions.”
“The only terrible decision I made was staying with you as long as I did,” I spit at him.
“You’re going to regret this.” He steps closer, and there’s something threatening in his posture now. “You’re going to realize what you gave up. And I won’t be here waiting.”
“Good. Don’t wait. Move on. Marry Brittany. I literally don’t care. Just leave me the fuck alone.”
“Sloane Marie!” Mom gasps.
But I’m done. So fucking done.
I turn to my mother. “How could you do this? How could you invite him here without telling me?”
“I thought if you two just talked …”
“You thought wrong.” Tears are streaming down my face now. “You thought your need to save face was more important than my feelings. You thought keeping up appearances mattered more than the fact that he destroyed me.”
“Sweetheart, I just want you to be happy,” she mumbles through her tears.
“No, you don’t. If you wanted me to be happy, you’d support me. You’d be angry on my behalf. You’d tell him to get the fuck out of this house.” I’m sobbing now, ugly crying in front of everyone. “But instead, you’re taking his side. You’re making me feel crazy for having boundaries. You’re trying to guilt me into going back to someone who treated me like shit.”
