Chapter Five - Kate
CHAPTER FIVE
Kate
She didn’t know where she was going. She just had to keep moving. Away from the image burned into her mind—the sheets twisted around them, his body under hers, the sounds—oh God, the sounds .
The hallway was too bright, too quiet. The sharp contrast to the suffocating intimacy of the hotel room made Kate feel even more exposed, her heart pounding so loudly it felt like it might crack her ribs.
Her legs felt unsteady, the world tilting as she staggered forward, her shoulder bumping hard against the wall. She barely registered the sting, blinking rapidly, struggling to move in a straight line as if her body wasn’t quite her own.
She heard the door open behind her and she pushed forward, the plush hotel carpet muffling her footsteps but doing nothing to soften the ache clawing up her throat.
“ Kate! ”
James’s voice. Behind her. Raw. Desperate.
Footsteps closing in.
The hallway felt endless, stretched too wide, too bright, leaving her nowhere to hide.
She didn’t want to do this. Not here.
But he was already there, catching her wrist before she could reach the elevator.
“ Kate, please— ”
“Don’t touch me!” She wrenched back, spinning around, her voice shaking so violently it barely felt like hers.
James’s face was pale, panicked, his shirt unbuttoned, hair a mess from— her. The other woman.
Her bare skin prickled and she shivered. His eyes dropped to her half-dressed body, the lingerie she’d chosen for him. The soft, daring black lace that now felt impossibly foolish.
“Let me—come back inside.” His voice cracked as he stepped closer, reaching for her. “You can’t be out here like this. Please. Just—please.”
Kate didn’t move. Couldn’t.
Her arms tightened around herself instead. She hugged herself, cold and trembling, the adrenaline crash leaving her shaking.
His hand cupped her elbow, gentler this time, guiding. Not forcing. Just…helping.
And against everything screaming inside her, she let him.
Her body still trusted his instinctively, wrongly.
He guided her back into the room. The door closed behind them with a click .
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She stood there, arms wrapped tight, trying to swallow the ache threatening to crack her wide open, while James moved around her. The other woman— curvy, beautiful —was already mostly dressed now, her heels clutched in one hand, hair disheveled, lips swollen.
Kate’s stomach rolled.
The woman looked between them, chest heaving, gaze burning with anger.
James’s face twisted, hands half-raised like he might defend himself, but before he could say a word, the woman cut him off.
“Go fuck yourself,” she spat. Then she pushed past him, the door slamming behind her.
Kate flinched at the sound, pressing her knuckles hard against her lips to keep the sob trapped in her throat.
She felt James move beside her, a distorted blur of motion through the tears in her eyes.
“Here.” His voice was hoarse, thick. “You’re freezing. Let me—just—”
He crouched, unfolding one of his button-down shirts, his hands careful as he held it out to her like a peace offering.
She couldn’t move.
Couldn’t take it from him.
Because this? This was not the man she knew.
“Kate,” he whispered, voice cracking. “Please.”
Her hands felt numb as she finally reached out, the shirt sliding over her trembling arms. He buttoned it for her, his fingers brushing her skin in the quietest, gentlest of ways, and it was too much.
Too intimate. Too careful.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she admitted, her voice very quiet.
James’s hands stilled mid-button. He didn’t answer right away, just closed his eyes for a moment, like he was searching for something to say.
And when he spoke—God, it wasn’t what she needed.
“It has nothing to do with you, Kate.” His voice was hoarse. “It was just—” He exhaled sharply, raking a hand through his hair, his words tripping over themselves. “We got married so young. You’re the only woman I’ve ever been with. I never had a chance to—”
Her stomach dropped.
James shook his head, eyes desperate now. “I’m not saying I regret marrying you. I don’t. But I was curious, okay? I never—never got to experience—”
His words grew firmer, more defensive. “It was never about you. Or us. It was just sex . It doesn’t matter—”
The shock was curdling into something else now. Humiliation burned into her chest, so hot she could barely breathe.
“Kate, I—I never wanted to hurt you.”
“But you did .” Her voice cracked, the pain breaking through every fragile barrier she’d tried to hold.
His face twisted, and he set his jaw.
“Kate, you have to stop acting like this. I didn’t stop loving you. It was just one time . It was barely even 10 minutes, really. You’re blowing this up like it cancels everything we’ve built together. I didn’t even finish!”
She staggered back, blinking hard, her pulse pounding in her temples.
His brows drew together and he reached for her, fingers grazing the air between them like he could somehow pull her back.
Kate flinched away, her entire body recoiling from his touch as if it burned.
Without a word, she turned sharply, crossing the room with trembling hands, snatching up her overnight bag from where it sat. The same bag she’d packed so carefully—full of hope, full of him .
Now it felt like a cruel joke.
And this time—when she walked toward the door, her knuckles white where she clutched her bag—he didn’t try to stop her.
He just watched her go.