“Fuck you,” I mutter. I wish I had a better argument to disagree with her, but Camilla actually is making good points. And I fucking hate her for it.
And when she grabs my arm again, I pull away so hard that she stumbles backward in her heels, running into a couple on the dance floor, and causing everyone who wasn’t already staring at us to start.
“I don’t know how many more times I need to tell you,” I seethe at her. “We are done, Camilla! And first thing Monday morning, I’m going to get a divorce attorney and make it official. Now stay the hell away from me!”
Chapter Seventeen
Cassidy
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Cass, please open the door and talk to me,” Xavier says after he knocks so hard the walls of my house rattle. My back is to the front door as I sit in front of it, the same place I’ve been since I walked through it half an hour ago and finally let myself fall apart.
“I should’ve told you the whole truth when I first got to town, I know, but I had no idea that it would matter, that what we did tonight would happen!”
Great, just the reminder I needed that he didn’t want me except as a spur-of-the-moment decision tonight. Awesome.
“You’re upset and I get it, but I don’t want to lose you. You’re my best friend.”
Friend, right. Nothing more.
There’s a loud thump like Xavier slammed his head against the door. “I fucked things up with you, and I hate hurting you. That’s the last thing I wanted to happen. Please talk to me, Cass.”
There’s no way I can face him right now with so many tears streaming down my cheeks that the sides of my hair are wet and my face all red and blotchy. Camilla, the cunt, called me a hot mess when I was leaving the gym and she was right about that.
“I’ve loved spending time with you this week,” Xavier says. “And I’m sorry I lied by omission. A huge omission. I just didn’t want to talk about her, period. You have no idea what she did to me, how badly she hurt me. I wasn’t ready to admit defeat yet. I hate giving up, so I was waiting to see if I could forgive her. But I can’t. She cheated on me, Cass.”
Oh, wow. That woman is even stupider than I thought.
“And maybe I could eventually forgive her for betraying me,” Xavier adds. “But now I realize that it doesn’t matter if I ever forgive her or not, because I just don’t want to be with her. Not because of the cheating, but because I’m no longer in love with her. I’m certain of my decision now, and I am going to get a divorce as soon as fucking possible. I only want to be with you, Cass. You have to believe me.”
He stops talking for several seconds before he says, “Cass? Do you hear me? I’m moving back home, and I’m going to give fighting a shot, and I want you by my side, in my corner every second of every day. In fact, I’m so certain that’s what I want that I’ll call my boss right now and quit!”
Faintly through the door I can hear a phone ringing like Xavier put the call on speaker. “Mr. McCormick, hey. It’s Xavier Malone. Sorry to call you so late, but this couldn’t wait. The reason I’m calling is…I quit. Effective immediately.”
There’s several moments of the man’s mumbled voice talking, but I can’t make out the words.
Finally, Xavier says, “Oh. I did forget about the required two-week notice in my contract, and I will absolutely follow through with that. Yes, sir. I’ll see you Monday.” There’s a beep followed by Xavier raising his voice. “Did you hear that, Bambi? I have to work my notice at the law firm, but that’s okay. I need to hire an attorney there to file for divorce anyway and pack my things,” Xavier adds. “I’m going to finally do it, Bambi, I swear. I’m sure I could give you a million excuses for why I haven’t yet, but they’re all stupid. Maybe, before this week, I wasn’t sure if I could ever love someone else the way I loved her. Which is ridiculous now that I think about it, because I’ve always loved you more than her. I just didn’t realize what we have could be more than friendship until this week, you know?”
Jackass. How dare he try to say sweet shit and make me cry harder?
“I’ll be back in exactly two weeks, okay?” he says. “You can count on that. I’ll walk right out of that office and jump on a plane. Then I need you to forgive me, because you may be the only person other than Coach who thinks I can have a fighting career.”
Of course you can fight, you stubborn fool.
“I don’t want to leave you, not even for fourteen days,” Xavier tells me. “You know, you could come with me if you want to. We could stay at a hotel and spend every second in bed until I have to go to work. You could go to all the tourist spots and go up in the needle, sending me pictures all day of your adventures.”
“I guess you’re too pissed to fly across the country with me,” he adds, stating the obvious. “So I’ll leave you alone for now, give you a few weeks to miss me and consider forgiving me. Hopefully. But I’m leaving my things in your house for when I return, and I won’t stop calling you or texting you until I get back in town. Bye for now, Cass.”
When I hear the sound of Xavier’s rental car cranking up as he leaves, the first sob breaks free followed by several more as
