Page 62 of Three's a Crowd
He paused and it was that that told her everything she needed to know. ‘Yes, agirlfriend,’ came his curt reply. He didn’t look at her and she knew right in that moment that she’d lost him.
‘Are you sleeping with her?’ she asked, her voice wobbling with emotion. She needed to hear him say the awful words so she could finally start to move on from the implosion of their relationship.
Another pause. Then he turned to look her straight in the eye. ‘Yes, Daisy, I am.’ There was no remorse in his voice. So that was it. The Adam she knew had gone for good.
Daisy’s knees buckled under her and she slumped back onto the sofa, her head spinning and nausea rising in her stomach. Putting her forehead onto her knees, she breathed deeply and slowly until the darkness passed.
When she raised her head, she looked directly at him and asked, ‘Who is she?’
‘You don’t know her. I met her in Cannes the day you embarrassed me in front of a hundred people by practically fucking Zach on the dance floor.’
His words stung. She knew she’d been out of control that night and had hurt him, but he was being unfair.
Wasn’t he?
Not that it mattered now, it seemed. Now he’d taken refuge in another pair of willing arms, to numb the pain she’d caused him.
‘Why are you doing this to me?’ she asked, her voice breaking. She was astounded at his cruelty.
Adam laughed scornfully. ‘Why do you think, Daisy?’ His handsome face was a mask of anger. ‘You humiliated me! And I couldn’t stand being number two to Zach any more.’ He shookhis head and she realised with a thump of pain that there were tears in his eyes now. ‘I couldn’t see you with him and know you were in love with him and not me. I know you have been for a very long time.’
‘How did you know?’ she asked quietly, shocked at this revelation.
‘Because every time I so much as mentioned his name, you started vibrating.’ He paused. ‘Something happened between you that day you both fell in the water on the Fowey holiday, didn’t it?’
Daisy sucked in a sharp breath. He knew about that too. How?
She didn’t have to wait long to find out.
‘Oh, come on. It was obvious. You were fine with me one minute, then after you went home with Zach that day, you changed. I lost you a long time ago and like an idiot, I thought I could win you back.’ He grimaced. ‘I should have left you alone after that, but I was so in love with you, I thought I could handle it. Oh, and then that awful weekend when he came to stay with that bloody nightmare, Lola, and lorded his perfect life in my face, then had the fucking nerve to tell you he’d “wanted to kiss you all day” when he thought my back was turned.’
Daisy felt a wave of shock and guilt swamp her. He kneweverything. He must have heard them after all.
Her face must have registered her surprise because he nodded ruefully at her.
‘Yeah, I saw you,’ he said, confirming her fears. ‘I walked in with those drinks and there you were… with him…’ He looked suddenly very tired. ‘I didn’t know what to do. I was desperate not to lose you and I knew what a fickle bastard he was so I thought I could just ride it out and you’d come back to me when he eventually left – like he always does.’ He shook his head and swiped a hand across his eyes.
‘We were really drunk and… and… he was confused about… you know, Lola and—’ she tried to protest, but he cut off her rambling defence.
‘He just couldn’t leave you alone,’ he said, his voice croaky. All the anger seemed to have drained out of him now, leaving only sadness.
‘Why did you agree to go to Cannes if you knew how Zach and I felt about each other?’ she asked in a whisper.
‘I don’t know, Daisy. I guess I was just punishing myself for not being good enough for you or some such shit. Or maybe I thought we were strong enough to stand it. That you’d decide I was the right one for you after all when you saw what a self-centred arsehole he was, prancing around like a drama queen. And I wanted him to see us. Happy. Together. What an idiot.’ He held up his hands in a kind of surrender. ‘I know things haven’t been great between us for a while, but I didn’t want to face losing what we had. We’re good together in lots of ways, but… not in others.’ He took a shuddery breath. ‘I was so sick of being unsure about everything. I needed to make something happen.’ He let out a mirthless laugh. ‘And I guess it did.’
He shook his head again, this time, she guessed, at himself.
‘As I’m sure you remember, I didn’t exactly find it easy. The only way I could deal with seeing the two of you together was to get blind drunk and stay that way.’
‘Oh, Adam,’ Daisy sighed, swiping tears away from her own eyes. She felt utterly wretched. ‘I’m so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, please believe me.’
Adam sighed and waved a hand at her, batting away her apology. ‘Well, it doesn’t matter now. I’m over you. I’m in love with Suzie,’ he stated confidently.
‘Just like that? What about us?’ she asked, unsteadily, still not entirely able to believe they were having this conversation. They’d been together for so long. Been through so much.
‘We’re over. We’ve been over for a while. We’ve just not wanted to admit it. I’m moving out.’
Daisy felt her world crashing down around her. She’d lost Zach and now Adam too. She was officially on her own.
