My heart nearly stopped in my chest, and whatever good mood I’d had while talking with Bree faded instantly.
“I’m going to have to call you back,” I said, not waiting for her response before hanging up and sliding the phone into my back pocket. This was the last thing I wanted to do tonight, but I figured, since the opportunity presented itself, I might as well make it crystal fucking clear, in case it wasn’t already before.
I threw open the door, frowning at the beautiful blonde standing in the hallway. She was bundled up in a thin fur coat, her hair pulled into a low ponytail on her right shoulder. Her brown eyes bore into me, wordlessly pleading, and those lips I knew all too well started to part as she spoke.
“Calum,” Hilary said, rushing to me, practically throwing herself onto me and pushing us both into the apartment. Her action caught me off-guard, and it was all I could do to catch her and stay upright.
My hands fit perfectly around her waist, but I pushed her off all the same, quickly taking a step back from her, putting distance between us. “What the hell are you doing here, Hilary?” It was difficult to even say her name. I flung it at her like a curse word, my blood boiling.
Maybe some people could get over an episode of cheating, but not me. Never me. There were a few automatic deal breakers for me, and cheating was one of them. Hilary and I were exclusive, she was my girlfriend, and yet she saw fit to find herself in the arms of my roommate and my best friend.
There was no coming back from that. Surely she had to realize this.
“I came to talk to you,” she said. “You can’t ignore me forever.” She was right, in a way. Even though this city was big, fate had a habit of tossing you with the people you least wanted to see. For me, that was definitely Hilary.
I looked at her like she was crazy, because she was. Absolutely, one hundred percent crazy. “What is there to talk about? You fucked Trent. We’re over. That’s pretty much all there is to it.” My words were blunt; there really was nothing left to say. Whatever Hilary hoped she’d get here, she would get nothing of the sort.
There was no coming back from what she did, and she needed to realize it. It’d been weeks. Hilary needed to face the fact that she’d fucked up, and move on, like I was.
“It was a mistake,” she said, stepping toward me, pleading with those big, brown eyes. Those eyes that had weakened my resolve on more than one occasion. Those eyes that I was so used to seeing under me, or above me. For so long, it’d been only her.
And now? Now I couldn’t imagine it. Now every single memory was tainted, and I wanted nothing more to do with her. Why the hell couldn’t she see that?
“Please, Calum, give me another chance,” she went on, taking yet another step closer to me. She reached out, running a hand down my chest. “You won’t regret it.”
I pulled away, but the bitch followed me, like a lost puppy, eager to find her home with me again. In my arms, in my bed. Places she would never be again. Surely she had to see that this, whatever this was, wasn’t working? I wasn’t going to take her back. Not now, not ever.
“I miss you,” Hilary said, her voice shaking. “I miss you so much, babe. Please, just—just give me another chance.”
“What makes you think I want to give you another chance?” I asked, unable to hide the venom from my tone. This woman took hold of my heart and shattered it without even blinking. I didn’t doubt that if I wouldn’t have come home right then, she and I would still be together, me being blissfully ignorant of the fact that she’d hooked up with Trent. How could I possibly live with such a liar?
And to think…to think I’d actually thought about asking this girl to marry me. That would’ve been the worst mistake of my life.
“What makes you think I can even look at you without wanting to scream?” My second question stunned her into silence. Good. “I can’t even think of all the good times we had together without wondering whether you were sneaking around my back with every other guy in your life! Why would I want to put myself through that again?”
“Calum,” she cried, tears cascading down her cheeks. At one point, those tears would’ve broken my heart, but today? Today they simply made me feel as if she was trying to manipulate me. “Please—”
I shook my head, stopping her from reaching out again. “No. Get out, Hilary, and don’t come back. I blocked your number for a reason. You and me…we’re over.” Over, one hundred percent over. There was no coming back from what she did, no more us.
If she was willing to sleep with Trent while being exclusive with me, I couldn’t help but wonder if there ever really was an us to begin with.
Hilary stood there, staring at me, for a good long minute. She blinked, more tears falling, but it was like it finally clicked in her head. Finally, after all this time, she was realizing we were over, that there was no coming back from what she’d done. No more us. It wasn’t a game of patience, of waiting for the shock to wear off; we’d split irreparably.
She said nothing, turning on her heel and leaving, and I waited a moment before going to shut the door, breathing out a long sigh once she was gone and I was alone. It was
