Page 48 of Our Final Encore

“I can, actually. There’s a lot of things I wish I could take back.”

He winces slightly. “I just want a chance to explain myself. That’s it. If you give me that, I'll never ask you for anything again.”

“You mean a chance to explain that you cheated on me with a famous singer slash model and then humiliated me by letting the entire world know about it? Explainthat?” My voice shakes, flames of anger and fear flickering in my chest.

His nostrils flared as his eyes bore into mine relentlessly. “I know you don’t believe me, but I swear on everything that means anything to me that I never cheated on you. I never did anything with Alexa.”

“You’re right, I don’t believe you.” I cross my arms and turn away from him, headed across the parking lot to Maisie’s car until he lightly grabs my arm. I curse myself for liking what his touch feels like. Having his skin on mine in any way should disgust me, but it doesn’t.

“One night. Give me one night to explain. Not even a night, give me an hour.”

My eyebrows bunch together as I swing my head around to face him again. “What the hell are you talking about? Let me go.” I pull my arm away from his grasp and instantly miss the contact.

“Just let me explain what happened. One hour, that’s all I need, and then I’ll leave you alone forever if that’s what you want.”

Another whiff of his cologne catches on the warm, evening breeze, and brings with it a slough of memories. Summer days at the swimming hole, winter nights wrapped up in his bed. It’s still the same inexpensive body spray he wore in high school. Kind of surprising that he wouldn’t trade it out for something fancier, but also not surprising at all.

Alex has never been one to care what others think. He’s never tried to change himself based on the people around him, and for that reason it’s no wonder he was in such a hurry to leave this town. No one wanted to accept who he was, and he wasn’t willing to pretend for their sake.

And now he’s standing in front of me. Still the same Alex I always knew, but with a million unspoken words stretching between us. I’ve found who I am without him, and it wasn’t easy. I know I couldn’t recover from him a second time.

“I’m not doing that, Alex. I’m seeing someone anyway.” The words pop out of my mouth before I can think better of them.

His eyes flash with an emotion I can’t quite read, some mixture of disappointment and surprise. “You are?”

“Is it that hard to believe?” I scoff.

“No,” he stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Not at all.” He blinks at me a few times. “How long have you been seeing him?”

“About a year.”

He looks utterly crushed and I can’t help but revel in it a little bit. I never thought this conversation would happen in the first place, much less that he would look upset over it.

“What do you like about him?”

I shift uneasily at the unexpected question. “He’s nice.”

He cocks a brow. “Nice. And what else?”

It takes me a second too long to come up with an answer. “He’s…smart. And I can trust him.” I level him with a glare. The lie burns my lips. Ian is trustworthy enough when it comes to most things, but he isn’t at all the type of guy I’d want to settle down with. But Alex doesn’t need to know that. For all he knows, we’re the happiest couple in town.

I notice the frown that forms on his lips and he looks away. “I’m glad to hear it. You deserve the absolute best, Bluebird.”

“Don’t call me that,” I shake my head, it feels like a weight has just been dropped on my chest.

His frown deepens, but he looks more angry with himself than with me. “I understand if you hate me. I just hoped I’d get a chance to explain things to you eventually, and now here you are. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

My throat feels tight, and tears prick at my eyes. “You never tried.”

“I did,” the amount of pain stuffed into his clipped words is alarming. “I tried to get in touch with you so many times, for two fucking years I tried. I couldn’t find any way to contact you.”

I want to tell him that isn’t true. He could have come home and talked to me face to face. But I know deep down that even if he did, I would have been too angry and hurt to look at him. I scrub my hand down my face, trying to rein in the storm of emotions brewing inside.

“I’ll stay out of your way while I’m here, if that’s what you want,” he says.

“How long?”

“What?” His brow furrows.

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