Page 161 of The 21-Day Boyfriend
“I don’t believe this.” I turn my back to him and take a few steps away through the grass.
“I’m here for you, I swear. Only for you.”
I whip around suddenly.
“I’m here because I understand. I’m here because I’m sorry. I’m here because this is where I belong.”
He looks at me, then strides quickly over, grabbing me by the shoulders and bringing me close to him. He presses his mouth against mine. It takes me a few seconds to work out what’s happening, to realise that this isn’t the mouth I want to be kissing; to know I’m making a terrible mistake.
This is the past: a past I want to leave behind me.
I push against his chest to gain some space. His taste on my lips is wrong; it’s as if it were never part of me. As if I’d always been reserved for someone else.
“Please, don’t.”
“I miss you. I can’t… I can’t stop thinking about how I’ll never have you again.”
“What are you…?”
“I can’t think of anything but you, against that pillar, kissing that guy…”
“Wait a moment. Are you saying you’re… Jealous?”
“I can’t stand the thought that he…” He steps closer to me and presses himself against my mouth again. “And you…”
I push him away, making space once more.
“You’re… You’re a real dick.”
“What?”
“You’re a fucking cheater.”
“What the hell…?”
“You cheated on me with him and now you’re trying to cheat on him with me?”
“I don’t…”
“Please!” I lift my hand, holding it right in front of his face. “I don’t believe you, Colm, okay? I don’t care how many times you swear nothing happened between you two before we broke up. I don’t believe you.”
Colm holds my gaze but doesn’t bat an eyelid.
“Once a cheater, always a cheater.”
“Come on, what were you expecting? All those night shifts, the trips, conferences, projects…”
“Are you trying to say that…?”
“It happened, okay? I couldn’t avoid it.”
“I can’t believe you’re only telling me this now.”
“It wasn’t important.”
“It wasn’t…” I run my hands through my hair, exhausted. “I’m leaving.”
I turn to leave and storm back down the hill, but Colm has no intention of letting me go. He grabs my arm and spins me around, kissing me again, hoping to of bring to light something he’d buried. But it won’t work.
