Overtime(85)

She hadn’t realized how upset he was until that moment. He never cussed, and the fact that his hands were in fists worried her. She really didn’t want this to come to blows, but both of them were just itching for it.

Stupid male egos.

Making a face, she said, “I mean, ‘obsessed’ is a little over the top. I did love him and I wasn’t over him.”

“You told me you were!” he yelled and Jordie stepped between them.

“Don’t yell at her,” he warned, and with all her might, she pushed him to the side before staring at him

“I can take care of myself!” she yelled at him, but Jordie wasn’t listening. His eyes were trained on Liam, just waiting for a reason to hit him. She really needed to get him out of there. “I wanted to be over him and figured if I said I was, it would be true. But I never was and I’m sorry, but you—”

“So you used me?”

She had asked herself that many times and she knew the answer. She just didn’t want to own up to it. She wasn’t that kind of person, but in her quest to lose her feelings for Jordie, she lost a bit of her humility. Something she was not proud of. And if she could, she’d make it up to Liam. But she was unsure how to do that or if he even wanted her to. But she didn’t owe him the whole truth. “I guess so. I didn’t mean to though, if that makes it any better. And I am very, very sorry.”

“It doesn’t,” he snapped and she nodded. “And I don’t think you are. You just needed someone to keep you warm till he came back.”

“Um, no. We broke up like nine months ago and we’d only been together two months, so please don’t think that of me.”

“You made the bed, now lie in it,” he snapped back and Kacey took a cleansing breath in. She wouldn’t let this dude make her feel like shit. She was guilty and hated what she did to him, but she never lied. She never told him she loved him when she didn’t. He was upset and trying to keep his pride. She understood that, but it was time for him to go.

“I’m really sorry, Liam. I am. And like I said, I wish you the best. Some woman will be really happy to be with you.”

“Yeah, and let’s pray she isn’t a heartbreaking whore like you,” he sneered, and she’d never expected him to actually say the words he’d been insinuating. That shocked her, but what didn’t shock her was the speed of Jordie’s fist as it smashed into Liam’s pretty face.

“Jordie!” she yelled as Karson wrapped his arms around him.

“Say what you want about me, dickface, but you will not talk to her like that,” Jordie yelled as Liam covered his mouth, in obvious pain.

“Really? You had to hit him?” she yelled as Karl pushed Liam out the door, slamming it.

“Yes! He won’t talk to you like that,” he yelled, trying to get past Karson, but this time he actually held him back.

“You are acting like a child!”

“I’m protecting you!”

“Oh please, you’re just jealous.”

“You’re f*cking right, I am!” he yelled back and, for some reason, she was surprised by that. Breaking out of Karson’s hold, Jordie spoke quickly and with conviction, holding her gaze. “That * touched you, kissed you, and was a part of your life when that’s all I wanted. So yeah, I’m jealous, and yeah, I’m acting like a child because I don’t f*cking like sharing! You know this.”

“I think it’s safe for me to leave,” Karson said, but Kacey wasn’t listening to him, her eyes locked with Jordie’s. His chest was rising quickly, up and down, probably matching hers. She thought she heard her dad say something, but she couldn’t get over the pain in Jordie’s eyes.

“Jordie, I’m with you.”

“But he mattered enough for you to be with and to try to forget me. Do you know what it was like to watch the woman I love with someone else?”

“Doubt it was easy, but do you know how hard it was to be left behind like a piece of trash with no explanation at all? While you were off trying to forget me? Both of us are guilty of it. Just let it go and move on.”

His shoulders dropped as he shook his head. Looking up at her, he asked, “Do you forgive what I did, Kacey? Honestly? You say you have, but when you say shit like that, it’s hard to believe.”

She eyed him, and she couldn’t believe he was asking that. If she hadn’t forgiven him, then why was she with him? “Yes, Jordie, but I haven’t forgotten.”

He nodded, his eyes not leaving hers. “I get that, and I completely understand, but you are throwing it in my face. I know what I did was wrong, and I’ve apologized. You don’t have to remind me.”

Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she couldn’t believe this was happening. Because she was pretty sure they were fighting. “I am sorry for doing that. You’re right, that was wrong. But you just punched my ex and then tried to make me feel bad for being with him!”

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad, Kacey. I am upset that he meant something to you.”

“Oh my God, he didn’t! You do!”

He shook his head. “No, you don’t get what I’m trying to say,” he stressed, his eyes wild as he held her gaze. “I know I f*cked up, and I hate that. It hurts me, maybe not as much as it does you since you were the one that I did it to. But it does, and I don’t want to think about it anymore. I want to look at our future, not our past. But we gotta let go of all of it if we are gonna succeed.”