Page 103 of Pucking Your Best Friend

She saw Matt’s lips tremble, his eyes glittering. “You said no matter what happens, we’d stay friends,” he murmured.

“And I meant it then. But back then, I didn’t know what could happen.”

And then she turned and left because this was a confrontation she couldn’t bear. It was one she didn’t want to have.

“Maddie.” She heard Matt running after her.

“No!”

“Maddie, please.” He grabbed her hand, but she pulled away. “I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t mean… You misunderstood. Can’t we talk and…”

“No,” she whispered and ran out of the underground parking garage and threw herself into the crowd hurrying to the public parking lots. She let them pull her along. Matt’s calls were merely a faint echo in her ears when she heard the first cries of “Oh my God, there’s Matt Payne!”

She fled – from another argument. But what could she do? It was too much. Her heart ached and she didn’t know how much more it could take. She…

“Maddie.”

She stopped abruptly because someone was holding her arm. It was Clemens, leaning against a chic, black BMW.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his gaze sliding uncomfortably over her tear-stained cheeks.

She swallowed, wanting to nod, but couldn’t really bring herself to do so. She should think about what was happening, that Matt had hurt her. But instead, his words filled her head.

Of course heknew, Maddie! I only had to take one look at him and it was crystal clear!

Her heart was burning. She didn’t want to argue anymore. But she couldn’t get Matt’s words out of her head and…she would do it for anyone else, wouldn’t she? She’d give Clemens what for. If he had been her sister’s ex-boyfriend and had possibly treated her badly, she would throw it in his face immediately. Why not for herself?

She took a trembling breath, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and straightened up.

“Clemens, you do realize that it wasn’t merelya fewnights that we spent together back then, right?” she asked in a hoarse voice, staring into his watery eyes. This was the thing she had avoided earlier because it had been too uncomfortable for her.

“Well, yeah, okay. It might have been a bit more than a few.” He raised one corner of his mouth.

“It was two years,” she murmured. “We were together for two years…”

He sighed but avoided her gaze. “Maddie, you know we weren’t…”

“No, I didn’t know that,” she whispered and looked at him questioningly. “So, which of us was wrong back then? You or me?”

“Maddie,” he clicked his tongue, “we already went over that. Years ago.”

“Yes, and at the time, I simply believed you, but back then, I didn’t think you could possibly want anything bad for me,” she whispered. “But…were we in a relationship, Clemens? Those two years?”

“We…” He blinked and stopped.

She couldn’t hold back a dry laugh. “It’s not a difficult question! How the hell could you not tell that I was serious? Did you not even know me? Because people who know me, who spend as much time with me as you did back then, know that I’m not the type for a fling!”

“Well, yeah.” He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “I may havesuspectedthat you were hoping for more than something casual. But you never asked me if I was seeing other women.”

“So it was my fault? I misunderstood all of it?” Her voice was strangely calm. Maybe because her eyes suddenly were seeing soclearly. There was that expression Matt had spoken of earlier. The discomfort in Clemens’ eyes. The guilt.

Shit, he had known.

She let out a gasp and narrowed her eyes.

He had known that she loved him and believed they were exclusive. He had taken advantage of her and twisted her words when she caught him so he wouldn’t have to feel bad. He had made her believe that she was too stupid to understand what was going on between them. But she’d been right all along!

She took a shuddering breath. Matt was right. She hadn’t come to terms with it yet. Now, however…

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