“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve read every letter, text, and email AJ’s sent me. The difference between you and me is that he hasn’t been lying to you for months. So, yeah, I guess if I was in your shoes, I’d believe him too.”
“Just give him a chance to speak his piece,” was the last thing I heard Terrell say before I turned the corner and almost dropped my phone. Sitting there at the end of the hallway beside my door…was AJ, looking like someone’s lost puppy.
“I gotta call you back,” I said, quietly disconnecting the call with Terrell.
The sound of my footsteps caught AJ’s attention when I came closer. I kept my gaze set on him as I fidgeted with my keys. My heart fluttered in my chest and I had to take a deep breath to make it stop. Our eyes locked on one another, and for a moment, I almost forgot everything he’d done.
He was on his feet in seconds. I looked him up and down. “What’re you doing here?”
He slipped his hands inside the pockets of his black hoodie. “Sam…you can’t just ignore me; it’s been months. Don’t you think we need to talk about what happened?”
“We have talked about it; I just don’t believe you,” I reasoned. My lock clicked and I took a step inside, placing my hand on AJ’s chest when he attempted to follow me. His eyes were pleading when I finally let myself look into them.
“Please….I’ve been sitting out here for four hours waiting. Just…just listen to what I have to say. After this, if you still don’t wanna deal with me….I’ll stop trying,” he lied. I could see it all over his face; no matter how this went, he was still going to keep at it. That flutter in my heart returned and I let that desperate look on his face get to me. When I dropped my hand from his chest, he came in.
“What do you wanna say?” I asked, folding my arms as I rested my back against the door.
He took a seat on the edge of my bed and stared at the floor. “You can’t possibly think I slept with that girl.”
I took a deep breath and then released it.
“Now…I’ll be the first to say that this is all my fault. Trust me, I’ve gone over it all in my head. I know the part I played in all this, but I swear I never touched her. Regardless of how it looked, I’d never cheat on you, Sam. I mean…come on. You have to know that. Tell me that a small piece of you doesn’t believe me.”
I shifted against the door when he challenged me. Of course it was hard to believe that he’d cheat initially, but after all the lies…
“Sam…I love you and I’m miserable.” When he stood and closed the distance between us I shuttered, tightening my arms over my chest. We were now close enough that I had to tilt my chin upward to see his face. The slow drag of air that left my lungs released some of the animosity that I’d built up over the months. Being in his atmosphere – seeing him, smelling his cologne, being close enough to touch him – I felt vulnerable, but unfortunately I was no longer comfortable being vulnerable in his presence.
“I think you should leave,” I forced out, hearing the weakness in my tone. He probably did too.
“At least give me a chance to make things right between us. Even if you don’t trust me, we can get back to that.” He took my hand in his and I couldn’t pull away. What little space there was between our bodies disappeared even more as he came closer.
“Please. Just agree to have dinner with me tomorrow. That’s it. We can talk, not talk, whatever. Just say that you’ll come with me.” His fingers slipped along my jaw line, around to the back of my neck, and up into my hair just enough to send a chill down my spine. A labored breath slipped from my lips as I stared up into his eyes. My heart was pulling me in his direction, but my logical side still had a wall as thick as the Hoover Dam thrust up between us.