Page 70 of One Sweet Day I Found You

But it was all coming back to haunt her now—that they’d never had it out. She needed to deal with it, before it continued to fester. This had been a long time coming. No wonder she still harbored such rage.

Austin set the six-pack down on the coffee table and Courtney grabbed a bottle, twisted it open, and guzzled.

She sat down in an armchair and carefully set the bottle down on one of the round coasters made of thick corkboard and stacked neatly on the table. Mrs. Brady’s furniture didn’t deserve her wrath.

Austin set his phone down on an end table and took a seat on the sofa. Courtney pulled out another coaster and placed it roughly on the table in front of him.

She leaned back and crossed her legs, straightening her mini skirt. “Okay, so let’s talk.”

Austin grabbed a beer and opened it. He drank, rested the bottle on one knee, and kept his eyes on the table.

“Listen, Courtney, I’ve thought about this a lot over the last year. If I could go back and change things, I would. I wassostupid.”

He looked up at her. “I never should’ve gotten involved with Alicia. It was so wrong. I never should’ve done that to you.”

Courtney listened, forcing herself to breathe.

In. Out. He did not deserve her tears.

“I didn’t even like her. She was just—she was justtherewhen I was out with the guys. You were always busy after you started waitressing. She was celebrating. She was tanked. We flirted.”

Courtney leaned back in the armchair. Alicia had blurted out a similar story after it happened. Hers had been full of tears and pleading apologies. Back then, Courtney had also kept a stone-cold face. She wasn’t going to let Alicia see her break down, either.

“And before that, I—I know I didn’t treat you like you deserved. You were just trying to make it. I was too caught up in myself to see what you were doing. I should’ve supported you. I can see now how badly I treated you. You deserved more.”

Courtney swallowed hard. She wiped her wrist over her nose. He throat felt like it was closing up. Soon her eyes were going to start spilling.

“Anyway, I never should’ve just let things go like that. But I did. I just let it all fall apart. I didn’t realize what I had.” He stared at Courtney. “Who I had. I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”

Tears streamed down Courtney’s face. It was useless to try to hold them back now. She let out a sob and Austin stood up and walked over, arms out. “Can I—?”

“No.” She stood up. “No.”

She didn’t want to feel this. It all hurt—way too much. Why had she brought him here? Why had she not just turned and walked away from him after the awkward hello? How did she get herself into this? This whole thing was ancient history. And right now, she couldn’t think of a way to respond. She needed a second.

Courtney wiped her eyes on her forearm and walked into the kitchen. She poured a large glass of ice water and drank the whole thing. She rested both elbows on the counter and stood there for several minutes, head in her hands.

The shock of the cold liquid did its job. Her head stopped burning.

She sniffled, wiped away the rest of the tears, and came back into the living room, where Austin sat, head in his hands. He looked up. His eyes were red, his expression pained.

Courtney cleared her throat and looked at him. “Wow, so that was a lot to process.”

He gazed at her. She recognized the longing in his eyes.

He’d said everything she hoped to hear from him for the better part of the last year.

But she stood, unmoving.

She wasn’t going to lie. It felt good to hear those words. That he admitted he’d kept their relationship going when he could’ve been honest with her. That he realized he should’ve broken it off if he was only going through the motions. That his feelings for her were gone by the time he and Alicia hooked up—which she knew they were. But he hadn’t.

He had cheated.

She breathed in through her nose again.

She couldn’t change any of it. There was no going back.

But he was sorry. She could accept his apology.

---