Page 94 of Jilted

Dad already had the baseball bat on top of the bar. I shook my head. “You don’t need that.”

“Jury is still out on that one. What’s he doing here?”

“I’m not sure. He said he wants to talk to me.”

Dad clapped the bat to his hand. “He can talk to me instead.”

I smiled sadly. “It’s fine. I’ll talk to him. Why don’t you go home?”

“I’ll leave after he does.”

I knew there was no point in arguing with my father about that. But his tremors got worse when he was stressed, so I needed to make it fast. “I won’t be long.”

Josh was seated in a booth with his hands folded. I took the seat across from him.

“What’s going on that you needed to speak to me?”

“Do you know what today is?”

“Wednesday?”

“The date?”

I had to think about it. “July thirt—” Halfway through, I realized this was the day we’d met and the day he’d proposed two years later. But it no longer meant anything, and I was proud of myself that I hadn’t even noticed. I shook my head. “Is that why you’re here? To remind me of the date? Because my dad’s tremors get worse with stress, and him seeing you sitting here is not helping. So why don’t you get to the point?”

“I’m sorry.” He looked down. “I’ve been trying to figure out what to say to you for a long time, so you would think I’d have something more eloquent planned, but the only thing that sums it up is…” He looked up and met my eyes. “I miss you, Sloane.”

I felt my face twist.“What?”

“I do. More than anything. I made a giant mistake leaving the church that day. I was immature and scared, worried I was making the wrong choice like my parents did, and I couldn’t see that it didn’t matter what else was out there because the best thing in the world was right in front of me all along.”

Turmoil flared inside of me. Not that long ago, I would’ve given anything to hear those words. But now I just felt anger. He had no damn clue how much damage he’d done. I’d almost missed out on the best thing to happen to me because of how scarred I was, and here he was worried about himself.

“What happened to Monica?” I asked.

“We broke up.”

And there it was. I folded my arms across my chest. “Oh. So she dumped you and now you don’t want to be alone?”

Josh shook his head. “It’s not like that at all. I broke up with her. It was four months ago, actually. But I didn’t want to come to you until I got my head straight and was sure. I know how much I hurt you, Sloane. I didn’t want to risk doing it again.” He paused. “I started seeing a therapist.”

I didn’t reply. I just stared into his face blankly. After everything he’d said, I felt… nothing. Though that wasn’t completely true. Maybe I felt a little appreciation. Because if Josh hadn’t been a complete jerk, I would be married to him right now, and then I wouldn’t have met Wilder.

But Josh must’ve taken my silence as contemplation, because he leaned closer. “We can start slow, Sloane. I know I’ll have to win your trust back. But if you give me another chance, I promise you won’t regret it.”

Just then, the front door opened and a big group of familiar faces walked in—there had to be eight or ten of them, all cops. “I have to go.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

I stood. I was about to tell him to go home, not to bother waiting—not today or for me—but when I opened my mouth, I realized one of the guys who’d come in with the group was not a cop. And that man was currently staring right at me.

Wilder.

I walked to him without saying anything more to Josh. “What are you doing here?”

“I didn’t want to leave things the way they were this morning. So I took Lucas to the airport and made sure someone could pick him up on the other side. Then I grabbed a cab here.” Wilder looked to the table where I’d been seated, a few feet away. He lifted his chin. “Who’s that?”

I swallowed. “Josh.”

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