Her stomach began to twist into a tight knot. Harlow tried to concentrate on listening to his reply, but her mind continued to rush with thoughts of her mother. The intensity of it all made her dizzy. She was sure she could throw up. The pain ached low in her stomach, only made worse by his confession. The first girl. Her hunch at the wedding was proven true with a small clarification. Why didnât he tell her? How couldnât he tell her? Ty was her friend. He knew Ty was her friend. He should have mentioned it. He should have mentioned it at some point in the 2 years. âRight.â She pushed herself off the bed, heading towards the living room.
âWhy should I believe you?â She huffed as she exited the room. All she wanted was to take a shower, to wash her sweat dampened skin, to wash him off of her. She grabbed her underwear, sliding them up her legs, before pulling her tank top back on. Harlow heard him enter the room behind her. âWho are you?â She shook her head, jeans in her hand as she found his eyes. âIt feels like I never knew you.â
Hastily, she jumped her jeans all the way up her legs. The quickness of her movements made her stomach turn again. Her motherâs voice rang through her head. She could feels her hands begin to shake as she fought back the tears trying to escape her eyes. âYour apathy is tiring, Max. Your inability to foresee how something you do would hurt someone is appalling. Youâre 32 years old and still donât know how to communicate. Itâs childish. But, sure, ignore I exist, never check in, flirt with people I am friends with, let your friends ridicule me - continue to go about life as if we never even happened.â She tucked her hair behind her ear.
âThanks for the orgasms.â She attempted to pull on her shoes as she started to head for the door.
Her moment of silence was almost deafening, her short reply even more so right before she stood up and left the room. â Because I donât lie! â he yelled after her. What the fuck just happened? With a sigh, Max scooted off the bed and pulled on his boxers, saving no time to follow her. He had already cheated on her, he didnât mean to make this any worse now several years later even though he didnât understand how it even matter if he slept with Ty. â When have I lied to you? â he questioned when he entered the living room to see her standing half-clothed with her jeans in her hand. â Sometimes I think I should have lied, you know? Maybe then weâd still be together. But I couldnât, because I canât not be honest, with you, or generally, I donât know... I just didnât think Ty mattered in our equation, he was history. He was out of the picture when I fell for you, â he tried to explain in a stern voice, since any softness didnât seem to go well with her right now. If heâd lied, told her he nothing happened after heâd left after that fight, the guilt would have still eaten him alive. Would it have been worth it, if it meant being with her?
Fine, he occasionally lied about things but he didnât think heâd ever managed to do that with her, not about the big things. She had a point though. His communication skills were not the best. Everyone told him that; Skylar, Kai - although theirs were also not great - Cora, Harlow, Declan, his mother. It didnât mean he didnât fucking try. â I canât just ignore or forget we never happened but I canât live my life like weâre still together, Harls. I didnât know Iâd get a damn crush on you when I first slept with Ty and I obviously couldnât just undo putting my dick in him. Just because I did it again doesnât mean Iâve forgotten about us. Heâs a whole other story. â His words may be raw and they probably didnât make much sense, Max didnât know, but he was more confused now than heâd been when sheâs walked in and asked him to have sex with her. He had moved on but he hadnât forgotten what it felt like to be with her. Hell, he still remembered the feeling with Cora. â I donât check in because I didnât think you wanted me in your life at all, can you blame me for that? â His friends ridiculed her? His first thought was Kai. What had she done now? Heâd figure it out.
Sighing, he leaned his head back and rolled his eyes for a moment when she thanked him. â Fine, be like that, but I think youâre projecting something else on me so when youâre ready for that conversation... â he threw his hands out to his sides, palms facing her and his dark eyes trying to reach out to her, if she needed anything. â You know where I live. â Pausing, he pressed his lips together and frowned, his mind doing a 180 out of concern. This was Hemlock Docks. â Are you... Walking? â