Page 53 of Lost in You (Flirting with Forever 1)

I reach for her head, clasping it between my hands. She stares at me, and her green eyes are liquid pools of regret. “I don’t understand. What was you?”

“I told her. I-I told Dana.”

For a count of five, I’m quiet, processing the information she’s just laid at my feet. Unable to think straight, my eyes search hers as everything we’ve been doing this weekend crashes down around us.

Tears begin to spill from her eyes as she starts from the beginning. “Chase told me it was you fooling around in his truck. I should have kept my nose out of it. Instead, when I discovered the bracelet and he told me it hadn’t been Dana with you, I went all girl-code on the situation and I felt I had to tell her what Chase had told me.” She grimaces, wiping her face with one hand. “He made it seem like it’s just something you did all the time.” She scoffs, “I didn’t know what to think of that because the idea of the boy I’d had a crush on—the man I was coming to know better—behaving in that way didn’t jibe with what he was saying you’d done.” She stops, her breathing erratic. “But I knew I couldn’t not tell her.” She covers her face with her hands and mumbles through her fingers, “Because how would I feel if it was me? And then to find out that it was me all this time? Oh, Shawn, I’m so sorry. I messed everything up.”

My head explodes with the realization that if Dana had allowed me to talk things through with her, we probably could have figured out the tangled web that Chase had woven us into. Oh my God, everything was fucked up because of Chase’s lies. I have the urge to hunt him down and really lay into him.

My mind stumbles over itself with what-ifs—what if Dana and I had continued on with our relationship, no interference from Chase’s cheating? What if I’d asked her to marry me, like I’d planned to? Hell, would we be married right now? Would we have had children already? All the possibilities slam me in the gut, and my mouth clamps shut.

I take a deep breath and blow it out through my nose. Madison looks more miserable now than she had last night when Chase admitted the truth to her. I stand up and pace the room, then stop and close my eyes for a few seconds. My fingers thread through my hair, gripping the strands tightly in frustration. I mumble, “I need to be alone for a few minutes. Wrap my head around this.” Without a backward glance, I pull on clothes and shoes, grab the key, and take off. Chase had better not fucking be wherever I end up, bec

ause I will knock his damn lights out.

Down in the lobby, I text my brother to tell him the revelation I’ve just had. Not ten seconds has passed when the phone lights up with his incoming call.

“What the hell, man?” His voice is gruff and irritated on my behalf.

“I know. It’s like everyone had different pieces to the puzzle, and it just all fell into place.”

“Chase. I never did like that fucker. And you say he’s been holding it over Madi’s head that she is the one who told Dana you were cheating on her?”

“Yeah, he said something like I wouldn’t want her anymore if I knew. Which is so not true.”

“Dana is pretty far in the past. It doesn’t really matter who told her what. She chose not to listen to you. Wouldn’t even let you explain. She didn’t trust you enough. Which is dumb. You never gave her any reason not to.”

“I didn’t.” I let out a big sigh. “I think Dana and I were good together most of the time, but I also know we had our issues. Looking back, maybe we’d have worked out … but more than likely not.”

“Well, I hope you all can sort through this. Madison is a sweet girl.”

“Yeah. Me too. I’m going to go back up and talk to her now. Night, man. Thanks for always being there.”

“Right back at ya. Talk soon.”

I disconnect the call and slip my phone in my back pocket as I dash back up the stairs.

It’s not Madison’s fault. I don’t believe that at all. She didn’t even know it was Chase who had cheated until last night. But I bet she’s been beating herself up about it since the second she found out.

It explains the chaotic swings of emotion from her since the run-in with Chase. The way she’d reacted to what Chase said. I feel terrible for her. The words he’d thrown at her for no other reason than to hurt her—"he won’t want you if he knows.” What a prick.

The other truth hits me right in the chest, too. If none of this had ever happened, I wouldn’t be here with Madison right now. I wouldn’t be falling for her because we probably would have never had the chance.

In a sudden burst, I jog down the hall and throw open the door, needing to hold her in my arms and tell her everything is going to be just fine.

But she’s not here … and all of her things are gone. The room closes in on me, strangely empty and cold.

Chapter 29

Madison

I hurriedly dash down the hallway with my bags. I’d thrown everything into them, hoping I wasn’t leaving anything behind. The honest truth is I’m unable to bear seeing that wounded look in Shawn’s eyes again. The way he’d yanked on his hair like he was going out of his mind is like a knife slowly twisting in my chest. And then he’d bolted from the room, leaving the knife plunged deep. It’d hurt like hell. I really hope James responds to my text soon because I don’t know where else to go.

I sigh with relief when my phone buzzes in my hand.

James: We’re in room 16. Second floor.

James: But what the hell is going on?

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