Chapter 20
Maddie
“We don’t have to rush the marriage, Madeline. We can have a drawn-out engagement. Years if you want.”
“Corey.”
“I’ll wait until you’re ready.”
A thick, awkward silence falls between us when I don’t answer right away. “I’m sorry.”
“This can’t be happening. Did I do something specific? Tell me what I did and I’ll change. I swear it, Madeline.”
The raw edge in his tone catches me off guard.
I drop my head, my throat tightening. I came here expecting him to fight tooth and nail, to make it easy for me to walk away.
The man in front of me is the one I first fell for.
“You did nothing wrong.”
It’s not a lie.
He gave me all he had, and I was the one who pretended it was enough. “I’m the messed-up one.”
“No, you’re not. You’re perfect. We can work through this. I’ll move to New York for a while, and we’ll figure it all out.”
I blink, taken aback.
He hates New York.
When I took the job at M-Squared, we never made a solid plan for how to make it work. That should have been our first red flag. He expected me to come home on weekends until I eventually moved back to Georgia. A future I never wanted but never spoke up about.
A regret that now claws at me.
He takes my hand over the table, and I squeeze it once before letting go. “You’ll find someone who appreciates you the way you deserve.”
“Don’t say that. You’re that person.”
I shake my head. “I’m not, Corey. I’m so sorry,” I say again. Lost for words.
He downs his scotch in one long swallow, the glass hitting the table harder than necessary. “Why did you say yes?” His fingers scrub over his face. “Am I that fucking clueless? I never saw this coming.”
My stomach churns with shame. I’m a terrible person.
“I should never have accepted. But when you asked me in front of everyone, I froze. I didn’t want to embarrass you.”
“You think telling everyone we broke off our engagement is any less embarrassing?” he snaps.
“No,” I reply softly. “I was caught off guard. I never expected you to propose. Especially like that.”
His eyes lock on mine, and behind the anger, there’s a sadness so deep it almost swallows me whole.
“I fucked up. I should have known you’d hate a spectacle.” His voice catches, and his unexpected emotions are tearing me apart.
God, please yell…be cruel, anything other than sadness.
I reach into my bag, take out the black velvet box, and slide it across the table, knowing I can’t drag this on any longer.
He gives me a quick shake of his head and pushes it back toward me. “It’s yours.”
“No. It was never mine to take.”
His gaze drifts, and I think back to Nate—the first day I saw him again at the office, how he’d commented on my ring.
I never wanted a diamond. Why didn’t I tell Corey?
With a sigh that sounds like defeat, Corey picks up the box, twirling it between his fingers. “How did this happen? How could I have been so blind?”
“We’re both at fault. Lost in our own worlds, never truly giving it our all. You only proposed because you thought it was the next step. When you meet someone who checks every box, you’ll see I’m right.”
The words are barely gone from my mouth when movement across the restaurant catches my eye.
Nate.
He’s flanked by a stunning, tall brunette in a tight gold dress that leaves very little for the imagination. My eyes track how his hand rests low on her back as he pulls out her chair, smiling like she’s the only person in the room.
What the hell is he smiling at?
He’s swapped his earlier button-down for a fitted white T-shirt under his blazer, the contrast against his tanned skin making my pulse kick.
It’s the end of fall. Where the hell has he been traveling, and with who…her?
Nate says something, and she laughs, throwing her head back.
Please, nothing is that funny.
Her manicured hand strokes his across the table affectionately, and I have to rip my eyes away before I march over there and strangle her.
My grip tightens on my water glass before I drain it in one go. Wishing I had kept the champagne.
“Are you okay?” Corey frowns, interrupting my thoughts.
“Um, yeah,” I say, completely distracted by Nate, which makes me the worst person in the world.
Here I am, breaking my fiancé’s heart, yet all I can focus on is Nate, my ex.
“I…I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to lose you,” Corey presses. “I’ll step back from work and give you more of myself. We can travel, or I’ll give New York a chance.”
His words yank me back to the present. I can’t let this go on.
I shake my head, feeling sick to my stomach now that I need to be firm.
“I don’t want this anymore. It should have ended long ago.
When someone proposes, I want the butterflies, the impulse to scream it to the world.
That’s never been us. You deserve someone who can give you that.
A pretty Southern girl who can take care of you and be by your side. ”
“You’re a pretty Southern girl.”
“I’m a Southern girl but a city slicker at heart.” I smile sadly. “I was always meant to live in New York, and I’m never coming back to Georgia.”
Saying that out loud has never felt more like the truth.
He picks up my hand and kisses the back of it. “I will always love you.”
Oh god. I need to get out of here.
“I’m so sorry. I think it’s best that I go now,” I whisper and stand quickly.
A pained look mars his face before he hangs his head. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be what you needed.”
Tears sting, not because I’m losing him, but because I know how it feels to be on the other side of heartbreak.
I walk around the table, and he stands to hug me goodbye. I owe him a proper farewell.
“Goodbye, Corey.”
“Bye, sweetheart.” He kisses the top of my forehead, right when I peek across the restaurant to see Nate glaring daggers at us.
He abruptly stands and pushes back his chair aggressively, catching the eyes of people around him.
I break free of Corey, turn, and bolt for the exit, too emotionally drained to deal with Nate.
Luckily, there’s a cab dropping someone off right in front of the restaurant.
“Maddie Grace Cunningham.”
Ah.
My hand freezes on the taxi door at Nate’s demanding tone.
“You coming or going?” the cabbie shouts when I stand there frozen in time.
Nate reaches around me and slams the door in answer, and the cab swiftly speeds off.
“Was that him?”
“Don’t, Nate.”
“You’ve got to be fucking shitting me right now.”
“Go back to your date.”
“Jealous?” His voice is a breath away.
I square my shoulders. “No.”
“Could have fooled me.” His voice is low, dangerous.
“Seriously, Nate. I have no patience left tonight. Just go back to her.”
“No patience? You bring him into my city. To a restaurant where you know my brothers and I go all the time, and you think I’m going to be okay with it?”
Shit, he’s right. I didn’t even think.
I’m familiar with the restaurant because Mase has brought me many times, always mentioning it’s the brother’s favorite.
But Nate doesn’t get off that easily.
I whip around, my emotions at an all-time high, and jam a finger into his chest. “If you didn’t break my fucking heart, there would be no him.”
“I—”
“I understand why you thought you had to, but that doesn’t erase the fact that you did. It doesn’t erase the hurt.”
He takes a threatening step forward, forcing me back. I almost stumble off the curb, but of course, he’s there, catching me before I fall, pressing us chest to chest.
“Careful,” he murmurs.
I can barely breathe in his arms, suffocated by the heat crackling between us.
My brain is screaming to push him away, but my heart is louder saying, don’t you dare.
The pull is too familiar even in a fit of rage.
He reaches up, his fingers trace the long length of my hair, hesitating over the ends like he’d done for years. “I would take back every ounce of pain I’ve caused in a heartbeat.”
I nod sadly. “I know.”
“It’s good to see you, Mads.”
“I saw you earlier.”
My heart somersaults in my chest.
“It’s always good to see you.” He smiles softly.
“I need to go,” I say with little force behind it.
He locks eyes with mine. “Tell me you want to be with him for the rest of your life. Tell me you don’t feel what I feel.”
“It’s been years, you can’t possibly still feel…”
He pulls me in closer. “Tell me you stopped loving me, and I’ll walk away right now.”
“You will?” The question slips out before I can stop it.
Do I want him to fight for me?
“Not a chance in fucking hell. I’m never giving you up, Mads.
You’re the love of my life. My better half.
You’re mine, and I’ll fight until the day I die to prove I’m worthy of you loving me back.
I’ll beg for your forgiveness and fight for your love.
” His voice hardens with conviction. “And we should get one thing straight. That man inside? He’s inconsequential.
He will be a part of your past before you know it. ”
I can’t help my lip twitch at his cocky confidence. “Nate.”
“You can fight it, but you’ll realize it’s time to come back to me soon enough.”
I raise a mock eyebrow. “Oh really?”
Maybe he’s right.
“Yes, you might hate me, but a day hasn’t passed since Camp Horizon that I haven’t loved you.”
“I don’t hate you, and it’s just the familiarity.” The words are barely heard over the city traffic whizzing behind us, hoping I can hide behind the lie.
He raises my hand and puts it against his chest. “Feel that, Mads? That thunder in my chest? Before you, my beautiful goddess, my heart never beat this steadily. You lit something in me I didn’t know existed.
The flame dimmed while we were apart, and it would have died completely if we were done.
Now that you’re back, I realize it was never beating for me, it was beating for us. ”
My hand curls into a fist against his chest, and I bang it once, then do the same with my forehead.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” I fight against my emotions.
I need to tell him about Corey.
Only I’m scared to.
Nate’s here, telling me all the right things, but I’m waiting for the shoe to drop.