16. Homecoming
CHAPTER 16
HOMECOMING
(TIFFANY)
I open the door to my penthouse, and Dec follows me inside, carrying my luggage. He drops it by the door and wraps his arms around my waist as I turn to face him. Dec kisses me passionately, and I part my lips, allowing his tongue into my mouth where it intertwines with mine.
I wind my arms around his neck and press my body hard against him. His cock stiffens against me, and I moan softly as he breaks our kiss and lowers his lips to my neck.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Ben’s voice is cold from behind me. It feels like a bucket of ice water being dumped over my head, and I jump as though I’ve been electrocuted.
I don’t mean to do it, but I instinctively push Dec away from me and try to put a respectable distance between us while I spin to look at my ex-fiancé.
“It’s not what you think…” I say quickly.
Fuck. That’s a lie.
“Really?” Ben glares at me. “Because what I think is that you and Declan have been having an affair behind my back.”
Okay. Well, maybe it wasn’t a lie, then.
“No. We haven’t been having an affair behind your back, Ben,” I assure him.
“If it’s not what I think, then, can you please explain the very good reason why the fuck you were practically screwing my best friend in the hallway?” He raises an eyebrow at me.
A wave of shame washes over me. Ben and I only broke up on Saturday. Two days later, and I’m fucking someone else and telling them I love them. It’s too fast.
I open my mouth to tell him that, but Dec speaks before I can, sounding coolly calm. “Given that you actually cheated on her, Ben, I don’t think you’re really in a position to be demanding explanations from anyone.”
“You’re a fucking traitorous piece of shit. I bet you couldn’t wait to get in her pants. You’ve been trying to get in them for years.” Ben glares at Dec.
Dec growls from behind me, and I’m concerned this might come to blows in a second. So, I spin around to face him and place a hand on his chest as I look into his beautiful eyes.
“You should probably leave, Dec. I need to talk to Ben.”
I watch him crumple before me, and the hurt in his eyes doesn’t go unnoticed by me as I tell him to go. He doesn’t say anything, just nods at me once before he turns and walks out the door.
The silence in the room is eerie after Dec leaves. I’m just staring at the door he closed behind himself and hating myself for asking him to go.
“So, you and Declan are fucking, then?” Ben’s cold voice comes from behind me.
I sigh and turn to face him before admitting, “Yes.”
I pick up my suitcase and carry it to my bedroom, but I can sense Ben trailing behind me. It’s odd because this place is no less full of us than when I left, and yet, he feels like a stranger to me.
I drop my suitcase in my closet, then walk back into the living area and sit on the couch. I finally give my attention to Ben, who is standing in front of me and glaring at me.
“What?” I ask, and my jaw tenses when I do.
“That’s all you have to say about fucking my best friend?” he growls.
My eyes narrow, and I take a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “You know what, Ben? It is. I don’t have to explain anything to you. Not when you spent Friday night fucking Ashley Kirkpatrick while I was at the hospital sick with worry that my grandfather would die.”
“Oh, you’re clearly so concerned about your Gramps. So worried, in fact, that you took off somewhere to fuck Declan for two days straight.”
“You fucking asshole. How dare you imply that I don’t care about Gramps? I would never have even left the hospital if he wasn’t okay. Of course, that would only have delayed the time when I found out my ex -fiancé—” I spit this word out at him, heavily emphasizing the ‘ex’ portion of it, “—cheated on me. Dec took me to the Hamptons, and, quite frankly, what we did there is none of your business.”
Ben’s fists are balled at his sides, and he looks angrier than I’ve seen him look in our entire ten-year relationship.
“None of my business? I came here to beg for your forgiveness and ask for you to reconsider ending our engagement. I don’t think I want to, not now, knowing that you turned around and fucked Declan the second you got the chance.”
I realize that despite the fact that a part of me will probably always love Ben, I have no desire to be with this man. Something has broken permanently between us in a way I could never have expected.
It’s not just realizing that I’m in love with Dec. It’s realizing that the cracks were there in my relationship with Ben before he cheated and that they’ve been there for a long time. I find myself immensely grateful that we didn’t get engaged or married sooner. Dec was right when he said that I would’ve been completely miserable in my marriage.
I can’t resist the urge to roll my eyes at him in response to his comment on the back of my new realization. “You say that like I’m meant to give a shit that you don’t want to get back together with me. Good. Go. Live your life without me.”
It’s honestly all that I want from him now. I will always love him on some level and I hope that he has a good life, but I’m glad that I won’t have to be a part of it.
“Fuck Ashley Kirkpatrick every day of the week, for all I care. Just leave your key behind when you’re on your way out the door, and let me know when the movers will be coming to get your stuff because I sure as shit don’t want you in my apartment ever again.”
Ben suddenly looks very afraid, and his face crumples similarly to the way Dec’s did when I asked him to leave. A stab of pain rips through my heart for ever hurting Dec in any way.
“Don’t do this, Tiff…” Ben trails off in a pleading tone.
“It’s already done. We’re finished, Benjamin. I told you that on Saturday, and I meant it. Please, just go. Don’t make this harder on yourself. ”
I think it might be my last words, the clear implication that him leaving isn’t hard for me in any way, that causes him to place his key to my apartment on the coffee table before he turns and walks out the door.
I breathe a sigh of relief as he closes the door behind him. The final chapter of my life B.D. is finally complete.