Page 46 of It Should Have Been Me

“At the club. When I went to the gents...I came back, and that guy was hitting on you.”

Wide brown eyes stare at me with exasperation and her temper instantly flares. “Wait. You knew this was going to happen?”

“You didn’t?”

She shuts her eyes, shaking her head. “I need to get out of here.”

I stretch my arms over my head, still trying to wake up. “No, you don’t. C’mon, I’ll make you breakfast, and we can discuss all the bad decisions we made last night.”

“Breakfast?” She’s truly appalled by this idea. “No! I can’t have breakfast with you. Firstly, it’s two in the afternoon. Secondly, I have eight missed calls from my boyfriend.Eight. He’s probably worried sick. I need to leave. Oh, my God! What am I going to tell him?”

It’s not like I didn’t know she had a boyfriend, but hearing that sort of pisses me off a little...A lot. “You’re not about to treat me like a one-night stand, Cat.”

She’s flabbergasted, speechless for a moment or two. “What were you expecting, Scott? What do you think is going to happen here?”

I think about it, and honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting. I wasn’t expecting us to get back together. I wasn’t expecting her to break up with...man-bun. A one-night stand is the most realistic outcome of this situation. It’s very clear now that there are critical drawbacks to thinking with my dick. The damn thing has no foresight and no ability to assess the long-term implications of a decision. It’s completely consumed with instant gratification and simply does not think things through.

“I wasn’t expecting anything, but after last night—”

“Last night never should have happened.”

Instant trigger. “Uh-huh. And after which orgasm did you realize that?” Not gonna lie, the look of absolute mortification on her face is very satisfying. “Was it the one in the kitchen, the shower, my dining table? There were so many here in my bedroom. Maybe it was one of those that led to this sudden epiphany.”

“Don’t be a douche about this,” she snaps. Livid brown eyes stay on me as she crosses the room to stand beside the bed, her finger pointed right in my face. “Youwere the one who kept pursuing this, knowing I’m in a relationship.”

“Cat, in case you forgot,youkissedme.”

“I know,” she says, and the guilt shows openly in her eyes. “That was very wrong of me. I shouldn’t have kissed you. None of this should have happened, and it can’t continue. I’m in love with JP.”

This is grinding me more every time I hear it. I toss my legs over the side of the bed, keeping the sheet over me because I’m naked underneath. I can do nothing but glower at her for a solid minute. “How long have you been with this guy? Just over a year?”

“Eighteen months.”

“And you’re sure it’s love?”

“Yes. Very sure, a hundred percent certain.”

“Hmm...c’mere.” I grab the front of my shirt and tug her toward me. “I wanna tell you a little secret. It’s a juicy one. Are you ready to hear it?”

She rolls her eyes. “I don’t have time for games. Out with it, Scott.”

Even with me sitting and her standing, she’s not much taller than me, but I pull her closer so I can whisper in her ear. “It took me four days to get into your panties. Four days and I had youbeggingfor me. I think maybe you should reevaluate your definition oflove.”

An open palm flies at my face, the sound crackling through my bedroom. In all the time I’ve known Cat, she has only ever slapped me on three occasions, so I know I really have to push her to the point of bubbling rage to get that reaction. And I’m glad. I’m glad I pushed her to this point because I’ve been skirting around the same point for a few days now. I run my tongue along the inside of my cheek to get rid of the sting. The suppressed smile on my face gets her more riled up.

“You arrogant fucking prick!” She’s fuming, her breaths coming out hard and erratic. “Just because you’re stuck in the past, you decided to drag me back with you. You’re sad and lonely and miserable, so you want me to feel the same way. I’m sorry I’m happy. I’m sorry I found love again, and you didn’t.” She points to the photos on my chest of drawers. “At some point, you have to let go. I’ve moved on. You need to do the same.”

“Oh, yeah,” I agree with a sarcastic smirk. “You’re just the poster child for that, aren’t ya? Emblematic. They should put up billboards of you all over the city. You know what would be a good picture? You naked on my kitchen counter with my head between your legs and at the bottom, we can put a nice little slogan saying:This is what moving on looks like.”

The second slap is a zinger, but it stings a little less because I expected it, intentionally provoked it. I used to be an expert at drawing out her hate, her anger, basically every adverse emotion, and it’s nice to know that I haven’t lost my touch. I chuckle because she is spitting fire now. Not gonna lie, it’s really nice to see the woman I fell in love with instead of the stiff who’s been inhabiting her body for the last four days...years. I don’t know when she became like that.

“You can fuck right off, Scott!” Unadulterated rage causes her voice to tremble. “Yesterday was a moment of weakness. I was drunk. I got caught up in the moment. One thing led to another. That’s it.”

I’m getting tired of the bullshit she’s trying to feed me. “Are you still drunk, or have you sobered up? All this attitude I’m getting makes me think you’re sober.”

“Yes,” she replies irritably. “I’m sober now.”

“Good.” My hands slowly glide up her smooth thighs. “Because now you don’t have any excuses to hide behind. You keep saying last night was a mistake, and it only happened because you were drunk, so let me show you how easily I can make it happen again.”

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