Page 86 of Fumbled Beginning

I swallowed, unsure how I was supposed to answer that. He was angry, and while I wasn’t afraid of him, I knew whatever I said would only make things worse. “He didn’t force himself on me, but he caught me off guard. The second I realized what was happening, I shoved him away.”

He started pacing back and forth, tugging on his hair. “Rylee, I don’t know if I can believe anything you say anymore. If I can’t trust you, then I can’t be with you.”

He can’t trust me? He can’t be with me? He’s going to believe whatever lies Dominick told him over me? What on earth was happening? How could he be so cold and cruel? How could he doubt me so easily?

Haven’t I proven myself to him? Haven’t I been supportive and understanding enough? What more could I possibly have done?

“So, you’re done with me? Just like that without giving me the benefit of the doubt? Why am I not surprised?” I shook my head, letting the tears fall down my face. “My love will never be enough for you, will it?”

“Don’t turn this into something it isn’t.” His eyes filled with resolve. His decision had been made. As much as I didn’t want to acknowledge it, trying to fight him on it was too much for me to handle. “This has nothing to do with how much I love you. It’s about me not trusting you.”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, Rylee. You looked pretty boozed-up in those pictures. Maybe you were too plastered to remember. But the truth of the matter is, whether you told him willingly or under the influence, he found out from you. I don’t play games with my personal life. You of all people know that.”

My heart felt like it was caving in. All the good, love, and laughter were falling apart right before my eyes. I had never seen him like this. I wanted to beg him to stop, plead with him, shake him, anything it took to get him to stop behaving like this.

“You realize you won’t be able to take any of this bullshit back, right? When you realize how badly you messed up?”

His gaze dropped to the floor. His voice was distant and detached as he spoke. “The only thing I realize right now, is that we are hurting each other and that’s the last thing I want. I think we should end things before any more damage can be done, and agree that it’s for the best.”

A strangled noise broke free. “If you’re going to break my fucking heart, then at least have the decency to look me in the eye while you do it.”

He wouldn’t look at me. I was met with silence. This was pointless, and trying to reason with him while he was angry only made things worse. Deep down, I always knew he would break me in the end. If only I had listened to my head instead of my heart.

“Just go.” I turned my back, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing me shed one more tear over him. “There is nothing left for us to say to each other.”

I told myself that what we had was enough. I painted a pretty picture in my head and allowed myself to believe in things that weren’t our reality. Now that I saw the truth and how badly he could hurt me, I realized how wrong I was. Not only did he break me, he destroyed me beyond repair.

“One more thing,” he said so low I almost didn’t hear him. “If you ever gave a damn about me at all, you won’t breathe another word about the accident.”

When the door slammed shut, I collapsed onto the floor and buried my head in my hands. How could so much change in a matter of minutes? I wanted to go back in time and never step foot on that airplane. I shouldn’t have danced with Dominick. I should have made better decisions.

I sobbed in my hands because none of that mattered. I thought he trusted me. I thought we were moving forward, but apparently, I was wrong. After a simple misunderstanding and a conversation with a man who couldn’t be trusted, everything was gone in the blink of an eye.

He lost faith in us. There was no healing, no recovering from this.

Oakley padded over; his eyes looked as heartbroken as mine as he rested his head in my lap. I threaded my fingers through his fur. “I know, buddy, it hurts, but we’ll be okay.”

Somehow, someway, we will be okay.

CHAPTER28

RYLEE

I hadn’t leftmy house for a couple of days. I only stepped outside to get the mail and let Oakley out to go to the bathroom. Even my dog was pissed at me because I hadn’t had the energy to take him for a walk. He’s been moping around the house almost as bad as me.

Getting over a famous NFL player whose face was everywhere wasn’t easy. To make matters worse, my family loved him, so it wasn’t like I could confide in them. Especially my brother, who was doing everything he could to stay out of our drama.

I sipped my water and pushed the Chinese food I ordered for dinner to the side. My stomach hurt too much to eat anything.

I missed the asshole. I loved him and had no idea what to do with my life now that he was no longer in it. I felt stuck. Stuck between wanting him back and wanting to move on and put him in my rearview mirror.

There was a knock at my front door, and before I could answer, it swung open.

When Maverick’s eyes met mine, those damn tears came rushing out.

My brother’s familiar arms wrapped around me. “I’m going to kick his ass, I promise.”

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