“Could we talk?” James asked.
Kallie’s jaw unhinged as she stared up into the eyes of the man who had broken her only a week ago.
“Ple
ase?” he asked.
Please? The man had never said that word in all the years they were together.
Kallie stepped off to the side and ushered him in. Her heart was slamming against her chest, but she held her ground. She closed the door behind her and buried her hands into her pockets, trying to project strength while shrouding how violently her hands were shaking.
“What?” Kallie asked.
“I’m sorry,” James said. “I screwed up, sweetheart.”
“You did. And I’m not your sweetheart.”
“Then give me a chance to earn that back,” he said. “I’ll do anything it takes.”
“You want me back.”
“Yes. More than anything. Look, no one ever knows what they have until it’s gone. And when that woman hopped into that limousine with me, the only thing I could think about was you.”
“Did you think about me when you were screwing her in the closet?” she asked.
“I know what I did was wrong.”
“How many others were there?”
Kallie watched James pause and she shook her head.
“Kallie—”
“How many, James?”
“I don’t know if—”
“You can get out if you don’t want to give me the information I want,” she said.
“Four,” James said. “There were ... shit.”
It should’ve been a punch to her gut. Kallie should’ve been devastated. But she wasn’t. She wasn’t even shocked. Four other women, not including the bridesmaid, he screwed around with. At least he had openly admitted it. Usually, getting James to admit anything was like pulling teeth from a hungry hyena. She could tell he was trying. To open up and be honest with her despite their past.
But Kallie wasn’t latching on that quickly again.
“There were four other women, Kallie. But I promise you, none of them held a candle to you.”
Kallie laughed, her body unable to contain the emotions welling in her chest. Was that supposed to make her feel better? That the five other women he’d slept with over the duration of their relationship didn’t suck dick like she could? It was insane. Him being here was insane. All Kallie wanted was a few moments of peace to herself before going on about her life and trying to pick up the pieces, and somehow James had stumbled back onto her doorstep.
Begging for scraps.
“James, I don’t even know where to start,” she said.
“Then let’s start with all the good times we had. Remember that vacation we took last year? The Alaskan cruise?”
“Yeah. You booked out the whole damn boat.”
James’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline and Kallie snickered.