Kara was in rare form as well, so when I saw Ally weaving towards our table, I cringed, not wanting her to have to deal with Kara. Ally was too good of a person to deal with that shit. I could tell she was drunk just by glancing at her, and she was looking sexy as hell in a tiny black dress that flared at her hips and barely covered that ass of hers.
I wanted to do very bad things to her. Or just get the hell out of there and go somewhere quiet, just as long as I with her, but Kara stunned me into silence and we had to finish what we started. There was no way in hell I was leaving there without getting the full story from her.
I knew Ally’s friends and her brother probably thought I was a jackass for not coming back over with her, but I couldn’t risk Kara taking off on me, or getting pissed that I left her too long. Her mood swings were at an all-time high that night.
Things with Ally and I were a little awkward the next day, to say the least. I invited her over to my place for dinner, and she agreed right away. I was honestly a little worried that she would never talk to me again after the way I treated her. I had been a complete asshole.
I remember every word of the conversation we had when she first showed up. “So, are you and...Kara getting back together?” She swallowed thickly, trying to avoid my eyes, but I could see hers were filled with unshed tears. I would be beating myself up forever about putting those tears in her eyes. I didn’t want to ever see her like that again.
I’m sure she was probably thinking the worst. I mean her own husband just cheated on her, and here I was, never mentioning a word about meeting up with Kara. It probably looked pretty damn suspicious.
“No, Ally.” I had grabbed her hand, lacing it with mine, and holding it tight to my chest. “I can’t apologize enough for last night, it was a dick move, and I should’ve just told you what was up.” She bit down on her lip that had been trembling slightly, and I ran my thumb across the smooth skin of her cheek. “I’m sorry. The only person I want is you.”
“That’s all I needed to hear, Nick.”
She didn’t ask why I had met with Kara, luckily, and I didn’t give her any explanation. I’m sure she wanted to, but I was glad she didn’t, even though I know I owed it to her. I wasn’t ready to. That seemed to help things out between us, but then she hit me with the bombshell that her ex had shown up the same night.
What a clusterfuck.
It must have been after I left because if I would’ve seen him, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere. She shared some details of their night that I really didn’t care to hear.
Ever. Again.
I could tell Ally felt guilty because once she started telling me exactly what happened, she couldn’t stop. I was glad she was being honest with me, but not that honest. Did I really need to know that she was basically naked, about to have sex with the guy, and then put things to a stop? She didn’t say it, but I felt partially responsible. If it hadn’t been for the way I treated her, would it have gone that far? But it still pissed me off, even if I was going to take some of the blame. My jaw tightened as she kept talking, and I could feel my teeth clenching together.
The important thing was that she stopped, but that didn’t mean I could process it that easily.
“I couldn’t do it, because of you, if I had, it would have ruined everything,” she explained.
She had been right, too. It would have ruined everything because no matter how much I loved Ally, I wouldn’t have been able to trust her, and you can’t have love without trust in my book.
“Just give me a minute, Ally.” I pressed my fingertips into my eyes, trying to stop the images of her with some other guy from popping into my head. It was pretty damn hard. I shook my head before opening my eyes, and seeing Ally standing there looking defeated. I wanted to reach out to tell her everything was okay, but right then, I couldn’t.
“Nick—”
“Stop,” I snapped, instantly regretting how it came out, but thinking I had a right to be upset. “That’s a lot of shit to process, and I don’t really know if I can handle it.” Her mouth dropped open at my harsh tone, but she didn’t say anything, just sniffed loudly, and gave a slight nod of her head.
I needed to take a walk after that. I knew she was hurting and confused, but I needed a minute. I felt like I wanted to pound a hole into the wall, throw something, or better yet, beat that fucker’s ass for touching my girl like that. I know that sounded dumb. They were technically married and all, but still—Ally was mine and I was hers.
I came back into the room to find her in tears so I quickly dropped to my knees, wrapping her in my arms, and telling her that everything was okay. That I wasn’t giving up on us, when us had just started.
“You still want me?” she whispered, her voice muffled as she spoke against my chest. I pushed on her shoulders, so I could see her face, and moved her hair back.
“Ally, of course I still want you. We both made mistakes by not talking things out. Let’s not just jump to conclusions right away ever again, alright?”
I should have told her right then what was going on with Kara. I should’ve, but I didn’t. I didn’t want anything else to get in the way of what we had.