And now? Now I couldn’t imagine it. Now every single memory was tainted, and I wanted nothing more to do with her. Why the hell couldn’t she see that?
“Please, Calum, give me another chance,” she went on, taking yet another step closer to me. She reached out, running a hand down my chest. “You won’t regret it.”
I pulled away, but the bitch followed me, like a lost puppy, eager to find her home with me again. In my arms, in my bed. Places she would never be again. Surely she had to see that this, whatever this was, wasn’t working? I wasn’t going to take her back. Not now, not ever.
“I miss you,” Hilary said, her voice shaking. “I miss you so much, babe. Please, just—just give me another chance.”
“What makes you think I want to give you another chance?” I asked, unable to hide the venom from my tone. This woman took hold of my heart and shattered it without even blinking. I didn’t doubt that if I wouldn’t have come home right then, she and I would still be together, me being blissfully ignorant of the fact that she’d hooked up with Trent. How could I possibly live with such a liar?
And to think…to think I’d actually thought about asking this girl to marry me. That would’ve been the worst mistake of my life.
“What makes you think I can even look at you without wanting to scream?” My second question stunned her into silence. Good. “I can’t even think of all the good times we had together without wondering whether you were sneaking around my back with every other guy in your life! Why would I want to put myself through that again?”
“Calum,” she cried, tears cascading down her cheeks. At one point, those tears would’ve broken my heart, but today? Today they simply made me feel as if she was trying to manipulate me. “Please—”
I shook my head, stopping her from reaching out again. “No. Get out, Hilary, and don’t come back. I blocked your number for a reason. You and me…we’re over.” Over, one hundred percent over. There was no coming back from what she did, no more us.
If she was willing to sleep with Trent while being exclusive with me, I couldn’t help but wonder if there ever really was an us to begin with.
Hilary stood there, staring at me, for a good long minute. She blinked, more tears falling, but it was like it finally clicked in her head. Finally, after all this time, she was realizing we were over, that there was no coming back from what she’d done. No more us. It wasn’t a game of patience, of waiting for the shock to wear off; we’d split irreparably.
She said nothing, turning on her heel and leaving, and I waited a moment before going to shut the door, breathing out a long sigh once she was gone and I was alone. It was a damned good thing she didn’t show her face when Trent was here, otherwise…otherwise I couldn’t be sure what I would’ve done. I would’ve been angrier, definitely.
I gave myself a few minutes to calm down before grabbing my phone and calling Bree back. It rang a few times before she answered it, though she did not sound too sure as she said, “Hello? Is everything okay?”
Hearing her voice soothed the ache in my soul, the wound seeing Hilary had reopened inside. I closed my eyes, wishing I was with Bree right now, wishing I could hold her, lean into her, bury my face in that bright pink hair and forget about the rest of the world.
It took me too long to speak, but eventually I said, “Yeah.” The last thing I wanted to do was tell Bree that Hilary was just here, but…I found I wanted to say it, anyways. Get it off my chest and out in the open, show Bree that I was serious about her, that I’d never go back to my ex. “It was Hilary.”
Bree didn’t answer for a while, and when she did, she said something I totally wasn’t expecting: “It’s okay, Calum. I get it.”
I stopped pacing the hall, freezing as I asked, “What?”
“You don’t have to say it. I…I’ve been waiting for it to happen. It’s okay.”
Waiting for what to happen? Did Bree think…did she think I was getting back together with Hilary? Did she think that I was calling her back to break things off with her? Why the hell would I want to end things with the girl I was falling for, the girl who took up space in my mind at all hours of the day?
“Bree—”
It sounded like her mind was already made up, like she’d been bracing herself for this since the beginning. “It’s okay. I know what you’re going to say, so you don’t have to. It was fun while it lasted. I…goodbye, Calum.” And then, before I could get a word in, edgewise, Bree hung up.
I blinked, staring at my phone screen, at the call ended flashing across it. What the hell? No, no. I called her back, but she let it go straight to voicemail. Twice, three times…she’d either blocked my number immediately or turned off her phone. I repeat: what the absolute hell?
By now, I knew how Bree’s mind worked. I knew she probably thought Hilary and I were fixing things over here, even though I’d told her, swore to her, that that would never happen. I grew upset. Not angry at Bree, but just in general.
I knew that girl didn’t like surprises, but I didn’t care. She and I needed to have a talk, and it was a talk you could only have in person. Before I thought better of it, I grabbed my keys and was out the door. It’d be pitch-black, super late by the time I got to her house, but I didn’t care. Bree needed to know that things were over between me and Hilary…
But they weren’t over between us.
If no one else would fight for her, I would.
Chapter Sixteen – Bree
Intense sorrow rose within me, and I was unable to fight it. Why bother, when I’d known this would happen all along? It was like a train wreck; I couldn’t look away, couldn’t turn my back to it, even though I’d seen all the signs that pointed us towards disaster.
I knew Calum would never stay with me forever. I knew whatever we had was only temporary…but still, that did not make me feel any better. It was no comfort to me, not right now, and it would never be.
When I hung up the phone, I turned it off. I knew Calum well enough to know he’d call back, wanting to talk, wanting to explain himself. He’d told me he would never get back with his ex, and I nodded along like a stupid fool, wanting to believe him—but all the while, deep down, I knew love worked in mysterious and sometimes downright stupid ways. I knew there was no hope for Calum and I.
How could I stand against a woman who’d held his heart for so long? I wasn’t special. I wasn’t worth it. I was just me, and that was the opposite of a compliment.
All of the emotion warring inside me bubbled to my face, and I wanted to cry, to let it out because I was so freaking sad. I didn’t want to say goodbye to Calum, but it was for the best. I’d known I wouldn’t be able to keep both him and Mason anyway…better say goodbye sooner rather than later.
And Mason…the clock was ticking on him, too. He’d walk out of my life as soon as we were done with this project, as soon as we shared no more classes and never saw each other on campus.
I bit back the tears as I stumbled out of my room, my goal the bathroom. Hide myself away in the shower, let the warm water course over me, and cry.