I’d thought Madison and I were each other’s only sexual partner until she ditched me before our wedding. I’d stayed celibate for a while after that until I’d started fucking every girl I went on a date with for about a year. I’d wanted it to help me get over Mads.
I hadn’t been a total asshole about it. I knew who I was and the pull my last name had. I made damn sure they knew exactly what I was looking for before I went out with any of them. Being a billionaire in my twenties was like catnip for a lot of women. I was also widely considered to be really good-looking. All of the Caldwell kids were. It’s what happened when generations of rich men could pick the most beautiful woman available to marryand have kids with. Each generation of the Caldwell family tree got better and better looking. Hell, Olive had been told by more than one photographer that if she didn’t have a terrible case of resting bitch face, she’d be a supermodel.
Eventually, though, it had gotten old being with so many different women. I’d started to feel like my apartment had a revolving door. When I started to forget the women’s names I was with, I knew it had gone too far. I didn’t want to be that guy.
Then I’d met Carrie. I’d recognized immediately that she wasn’t the kind of girl you fuck and forget. It wasn’t until I was sure I wanted a relationship that I pursued her, and I hadn’t wanted to be with anyone since.
Until Mads came back.
So… what the hell was Ethan talking about?
Ethan finally realized I was put off by what he’d said. He laid down his phone and quit texting. He looked at me warily. “Thatch, you knew Madison fucked all of us during college. Right?”
“No.” I felt sick. I couldn’t even say anything else. I couldn’t look at him. I stared out the window at the people moving in herds to their various office buildings. People were always coming and going in downtown Atlanta. There wasn’t a slow time, really. Traffic was so bad that people’s arrival and departure times were spaced out to try and decrease the number of cars on the interstates at any given time of the day. I knew it was necessary, but it also just made it seem like rush hour lasted all day and night.
For once, Ethan seemed upset. His face had lost some of its color, and he could barely look at me. “She told everyone the two of you were in an open relationship.”
There are times in your life you can look back on and remember where you were and what you were doing. Times when something happened to you that was so emotional, itbecame a core memory. I knew this was going to be one of those times. A long-held assumption that was solid and truthful had just crumbled. It felt like when I found out Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny weren’t real.
Madison Welles hadn’t been faithful to me. Not even close.
I swallowed hard and finally looked him in the eye. “You slept with her.” It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact I was trying to wrap my head around.
He nodded, looking as ill as I felt. “Man, I swear… I thought you knew.”
“No.” I let my coffee go cold as we sat there saying nothing. “I didn’t know,” I said finally. “At the time—back in high school and college—I thought she would be the only woman I ever slept with,” I admitted.
He let out a breath he’d been holding. “Jesus. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I wouldn’t have touched her if I’d known. I hope you believe me…”
I held up my hand. “I believe you.” I thought back to college days and remembered how Elle, Ingrid, and some of our other female friends had hit on me. I’d just thought they were shitty friends to Madison. Maybe they were. But maybe they just thought I was in an open relationship and wondered why the hell I wouldn’t fuck them.
I stood up. “I think I need to go.”
He looked guilty as hell. “Maybe we can do this again sometime?” His voice was hopeful.
I looked at him. “I… doubt it.” I never wanted to see any of my college friends again. It wasn’t their fault, necessarily, but shouldn’t they have at least made sure it was okay with me before sleeping with Mads?
He nodded, wincing. “I understand.”
I started to leave but then stopped. “She was bad at sex then, too?”
He looked afraid to talk to me about it. I didn’t blame him.
“Yeah,” he finally said.
“Why did I think the sex was amazing?”
“I’m no expert, but I’d say it was probably because it was all you knew. At our age back then, good sex was fucking mind blowing, but even bad sex seemed good. Because it was sex.”
That made sense.
I didn’t say goodbye. I just left and walked back to my office in a daze. Once I got there, I sat at my desk and stared into space.
Everything had turned into a nightmare since I’d almost slept with Madison. To find out in quick succession afterwards that she’d taken advantage of me by misusing the credit card I’d given her and been completely unfaithful to me in college was devastating.
I thought about all the red flags I’d been ignoring when it came to her. She had wanted me to sleep with her without wearing a condom. She’d treated waitstaff like crap. I couldn’t quit thinking about the way she’d treated the waitress over wanting to be served champagne ‘right then.’ She’d fit in with our old college friends perfectly while I couldn’t believe I’d ever hung out with them. They’d all seemed self-important and douchey.
I’d heard from multiple people that her behavior with the director and other professionals she was supposed to work with on the campaign had been abysmal. I hadn’t wanted to believe it at the time, but I realized I’d buried my head in the sand. It had reminded me of things I hadn’t wanted to remember. Namely, that she had a very entitled, princessy attitude almost all the time. I recalled Lisa pulling me aside and saying none of the staff wanted to work with her. She’d said they called her a nightmare.
