Here. In my little space of life that he hasn’t touched. Where there are no memories of him woven into every inch of fabric or foot of yard. Not a kitchen island where we made love. Not a frosting bowl we played with. Not a couch where we laughed until we cried. Not a studio in fucking sight.

“I needed to see you.” Those words and the broken way he says them gut me.

But he doesn’t get to show up here expecting that to erase his mistakes.

“So you tracked me down? Wouldn’t a phone call have been easier?” I ask, forcing my voice to stay even and unaffected.

“Yes.” He takes a hesitant step closer. “But then again, nothing is easy when it matters, right?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He swallows hard. “I screwed up, Hendrix.”

Oh God. He slept with one of the women. I think I’m going to be sick.

“Yeah, well, so did I in taking the deal.” It’s partly to myself, but I’m just so fucking hurt. Devastated.

“I disagree.”

Yeah well, it’s not your heart that has been trodden on, destroyed once again. But I refuse to show him how much he’s hurt me. He’s already shown me by his actions that he doesn’t want me, so why the fuck is he here?

I exhale sharply and cross my arms over my chest. “What did you come here to say, Jase?”

“I love you.”

I go still, the words cutting through the thick, humid air, through the walls I’ve been so carefully rebuilding since I left.

I love you.

That most definitely is not what I expected.

And yet, I ache at hearing it. At feeling the poignancy behind those three words. At knowing I can’t let myself believe them, no matter how much I want to.

“Your actions from the last few days, especially last night, do not scream love, Jase. No one would do that to someone they love.” I screwed up. Those were the words he started with. “Sleeping with another woman or women.” I still can’t get the visual of all those women all over him out of my head.

“What? No, I didn’t sleep with any of them.” His eyes are wide and his voice is shocked. He takes a step closer, hands out. “I promise. I couldn’t.”

My tongue feels thick in my mouth. “Right. You make a living using words to evoke emotions, so they don’t hold as much weight now.”