Chapter 9
“Fuck, Ashley…” I muttered. “That’s not what happened.”
She raised an eyebrow, her arms crossing tightly over her chest as she stared me down, daring me to explain.
“I never wanted to hurt you. I swear, I never did,” I began, my voice low but heavy with emotion. “I meant it when I said I loved you. And I didn’t want her- I never wanted her. Things just…”
I trailed off, the words catching in my throat.
“Things just?” she repeated, her voice rising with anger. “Kyle, I need an explanation as to why I walked into your office and found you with another woman. On our fucking anniversary!!” Her eyes blazed with fury, and it was a side of her I’d never seen before.
“Do you remember what happened after high school?” I asked suddenly, my gaze locking onto hers, unflinching. “My father’s business went under, I saw how quickly things could fall apart. We lost everything overnight–our home, our security. I watched the strongest man I knew crumbled right in front of me. I couldn’t let that happen to me. I couldn’t let such happen to us. I can’t fail you like that.”
Her gaze burned into me, unrelenting. “And you think you didn’t fail me?” she said softly, her tone laced with both sadness and fury. “Kyle, I didn’t marry you for your success. I married you for you. But you let that fear–your fear of failure–drive a wedge between us. You stopped being available for me. You jstopped loving me.”
I flinched at her words, but she pressed on, shaking her head.
“You pushed me aside for a version of life that you thought would make us happy, but all it did was tear us apart.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes before spilling down her cheeks, and my heart twisted painfully. I had done that. I had hurt her in ways I couldn’t take back.
“Ashley,” I whispered.“I never stopped loving you. Not for a second. I thought I was doing what was best for us-”
“For you” she let out a dry scoff.” How exactly is sleeping with another woman the best for us Kyle. Don’t pretend it was about us”
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. A lump lodged itself in my throat, silencing me. Every excuse I could think of felt hollow, pathetic.
She was right.
I closed the distance between us, and as her familiar scent of wildflowers filled the space between us, something inside me cracked. I reached up to gently wipe a tear from her cheek, my thumb brushing her soft skin. I expected her to pull away, to jerk out of my grasp, but she didn’t. She stayed frozen, her body tense, her breath shallow.
And in a moment of raw, unfiltered vulnerability, I leaned in, closing the space between us, and pressed my lips to hers
Her body went rigid before she parted her lips with a deep exhale.
The taste of mint and strawberries overwhelmed my senses, and I deepened the kiss, pouring every ounce of longing, regret, and love into it. She tasted so damn good, so damn familiar like a distant memory brought back to life.
For a moment, it felt like time had stopped. Like everything that had gone wrong between us didn’t matter. But then, just as quickly as it started, it ended.
Ashley pulled away, stepping back, her hand covering her lips as if to erase what had just happened. Her eyes filled with regret, and my heart sank.
“Fuck,” she muttered, her voice trembling. “I’m sorry, Kyle. I got… overwhelmed. But it’s all over now.”
She paused, her shoulders sagging as she avoided my gaze. “That kiss… it was a mistake.”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
That was the sound of my heart breaking all over again.
“I’ll be taking my leave now”
I wanted to stop her. I wanted to tell her that the kiss wasn’t a mistake–that it was everything I had dreamed of for the past two years. I wanted her to know that I would never intentionally hurt her, that my love for her was still as real as the day I said, “I do.”
But I couldn’t. I just stood there, watching as she walked away… again.
But this time, I wouldn’t let it be the end. I was determined to win her back, I vowed to do whatever it took to prove to her that my love was real and that I
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