“You love yourself. Maybe you loved me when we started dating, but something warped along the way, and you know it’s true. If you love me, you never would have slept with Kayla.”
“How many times can I say I’m sorry?”
“You’re not sorry you did it. You’re sorry you got caught.”
“Please don’t end this.” He lunged toward me, and I evaded. “Please. Our brothers are on the same team, our moms are friends. We have a plan, Ember. Just let me get it back on track. I’m so sorry. I can make this up to you.”
I threw up my hands. “Stop. Stop chasing, stop apologizing, just stop . . . being.”
His gaze narrowed, focused on my exposed forearm. “What the hell is that?”
I flicked my wrist inward and saw the black marks he meant. “Josh’s number.”
“Well, that’s just fantastic. We have a fight and you hop right to the next guy. I never really pegged you for a whore.” Hello, Mr. Hyde.
There must have been parts of me that still loved him, because they shattered in that moment, leaving me naked, bare, cold. “Now we’re definitely done. You can leave.”
His face relaxed, a soft sigh escaping his lips. Dr. Jekyll was back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I just saw those numbers . . . I know that would never happen with you and Josh.” He shook his head with a patronizing smile. “You’re not even his type, too timid. It’s like for hockey or something, right?”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Too timid for Josh? “And if it’s not?” I needed to hurt him, to make him feel just an ounce of the devastation wrecking me. “What if he wrote it there after he spent the night with me in Breck?”
His eyes flew wide for a second before they narrowed into a glare, bringing back Mr. Hyde. “Tell me you didn’t fuck him! Tell me that’s not how you spent Friday night!”
“The night I caught you with Kayla? You’re such a hypocrite, Riley!” I blinked back the threatening tears. “Three years! I gave you three years! I loved you, cared for you, stood by you! I gave up every dream I had and let you plan out our lives by your insane notions that we had to be a perfect couple for you to go into politics in like ten freaking years! For what? To have you doing Kayla on the side for a year of it?” This time my hands slammed into the granite, pain destroying my fingers and skirting up my forearms.
The doorbell rang.
“What the hell is this? Grand Central Station?” I snapped. He looked at me like I’d lost it, and maybe I had. “Come in!” I didn’t care that Grams might have heard me not greet a guest, or that Mom was upstairs doing whatever it was she did lately.
Six feet and a granite counter separated me from Riley, who I had planned to spend the rest of my life with, but it may as well have been two miles, or two million miles. “Babe, I love you. I know we can fight for this. I won’t see her again, I swear. Once we get up to Boulder, everything will return to normal, I know it. I’m the only one for you.” His gaze ran past me, and he stepped back reflexively before glaring. “What the hell are you doing here? It’s a little early for hockey.”
Josh came up beside me, put an Ember-labeled Starbucks down on the counter, and met my gaze, melting my tension instantly. My posture relaxed as he unzipped his black ski coat, revealing jeans that hugged low on his sculpted hips and a soft gray Henley. He couldn’t have been more different from Riley’s carefully chosen polo. “I’m not just here for hockey.”
“Well, you’re not fucking welcome to anything else in this house,” Riley fired back, coming around the island. “It’s not like you actually want her! I remember the girls you went after in school, and Ember isn’t on that level.”
Not on that level? What the hell? The man I’d thought was the love of my life didn’t think I was enough to merit Josh Walker’s attention. He thought so little of me. How had I never noticed it before?
I glanced up at Josh. “Whatever I need?” He gave a small nod, and I pounced. I threw my arms around his neck and fitted his mouth to mine. I knew this was for Riley’s benefit, but the moment Josh’s lips touched mine, I forgot all about Riley.
Josh grabbed ahold of my rear and lifted me against him. I lost myself in the feel of his mouth and the plunge of his tongue as he slanted over me. My body remembered his, softening against him. Oh, yes, I remembered exactly what his body could do to mine, and I wanted it again.
“Are you serious?” Riley’s shout broke through my haze. Josh kissed me gently, brushing my mouth with his one last time before setting me back on my feet.
It took all of my concentration to turn back to Riley. “Get out. We’re done, and I’m not saying it again.”
“We’ll fix this when we get back to Boulder, Ember. I’m not walking away this easily. I don’t care what happened with this guy.” His face was a mottled red. “Remember, we have a plan! I know you want the same things I do.”
The phone rang again. “For the love of God!” I ripped it off the charger and stabbed the talk button. “Hello?”
“May I speak with December Howard?” a polite female voice asked me.
“This is she.” I was so not in the freaking mood to deal with anything else today. Josh and Riley sized each other up across the island, and I was afraid that any moment there would be an all-out brawl in my kitchen.