Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
~AMELIA~
“How could I be so stupid?” I ask Mac, Cassie and Hendrix. My voice comes out scratchy from all the crying.
As soon as I sent the SOS text, the girls immediately came into the apartment to get me out of there.
Now, I’m sitting on Hendrix’s couch, a cup of tea in my hands.
My eyes are red-rimmed from the crying. I have no idea what time it is or how long I’ve been here.
After they got me out, I came here and collapsed on the couch in tears.
They were a godsend, holding onto me and letting me cry, quietly telling me that everything was going to be alright.
I have no idea how. But somehow I believe them.
“You aren’t stupid. You believed the man when he said he was divorced. We all did,” Mac says in a soft, comforting tone.
“You should have seen her. She was this fabulous leggy blonde. Perfect outfit, perfect nails and her hair, for being in the Tampa heat, wasn’t frizzy at all.
She looked like a fucking model,” I shake my head, wiping at my nose with a tissue.
“And you know, when I saw the two of them standing near each other, I could see that they must have made the most striking couple. They fucking looked like Ken and Barbie.”
“Oh, please, he’s no Ken doll,” Hendrix says, shaking her head. “And you are gorgeous.”
“Yeah, I look great after a night of being thoroughly fucked, bed head and PJ’s. That was definitely the first impression that I wanted to make. I’m so stupid,” I repeat for what must be the hundredth time. “I mean, should I have asked to see his divorce papers or something?”
“No, no you shouldn’t have, Cassie replies. “But it was an honest mistake. He forgot to complete a signature, and his lawyers missed it too. That wasn’t his fault. So, it’s not like he was sleeping with you, knowing that he was married.”
“True. I’ll give you that. But what about the reason that they separated? I mean if he can cheat repeatedly on someone who looks like her, what the hell’s chance do I have of keeping him? Of making him happy? No one would bet on us making it.”
“Oh, honey,” Cassie says, taking my tea from my hands and pulling her into me. “Maybe he was turning over a new leaf with you.”
“Yeah, like dating a charity case. Maybe it’s part of a new program he’s starting - bang the less fortunate-looking girl.” I sniffle.
Mac shakes her head. “No, fuck that, Amelia. You are not a less fortunate-looking girl. No fucking way. You are beautiful, curvy, funny and smart. There is no way that you are some charity case. He loves you, I know he does. I saw the two of you together. We all did.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Mac. None of it matters anymore. He was married to the most perfect-looking woman on the planet, and he still fucked around. How can I trust that he wouldn’t do something like that with me?”
“You can’t,” Hendrix says. “You can only take his actions at face value. Did you ever think that he was looking at other woman or cheating on you?”
I shake my head. “No, but this is a huge red flag. How could I date the man or do whatever it was that we were doing, knowing that that is how he operates?”
Hendrix nods. “I don’t disagree with you.”
“Oh, you’re bitter about August,” Mac gently tells her. “You think every man is a cheater or is going to do something awful. I’m not sure that Dex is like that.”
“His ex-wife came here to Tampa and told Amelia all about it, Mac. Come on, when people show you who they are, you have to believe the first time. Keeps you from getting hurt over and over again,” Hendrix says with so much conviction that she has me nodding my head.
“I mean, come on, the man’s wife came here and told her that he’s a serial cheater.
How can she not take that as a sign to cut ties? ”
I nod in agreement with her. She’s exactly right. I can see by the way Mac is chewing on her lip that she doesn’t agree with her one bit.
“I saw the two of you together, and I refuse to believe that he would have cheated on you too,” Mac says turning to me. “That’s all I’m saying.”
“Well, he managed to get married and then cheat on her. So maybe it’s not something that he dives into right away, but he eventually would have. We have to accept that and move on.” There’s finality in my tone that I hope everyone hears.
“You should eat something,” Cassie says, catching me off guard. “You didn’t get breakfast, and you need to put something in your stomach. Especially if you are going to get your next dose of medication.”
“Can we get pizza?” I ask them.
“Of course we can. We can get whatever you want,” Hendrix replies. “I’m going to order some food. Mac and I will go over and clean up your apartment kitchen. You said he was making you breakfast, right? I’m sure he didn’t clean it up before he tore out of the parking lot.”
We all saw that Tesla leave the parking lot in a hurry.
She’s right, he wouldn’t have had time to clean up the French toast that he was making me.
I didn’t give him enough time because I couldn’t handle him being in my apartment and then I couldn’t handle being in it either.
So that’s why I’m sitting at Hendrix’s. There’s too many memories over there.
Even though he was only there for a few weeks, I feel like I can still smell him in there and feel him on my skin.
Eventually, I’ll shower, but right now I want to sit with my best friends and wallow.
I hear Mac and Cassie talking quietly. Something is going on.
“What are you two talking about?” They both look in my direction. “I can tell that you are talking about something that involves me. What is it? Did Dex go running to Jase or Danny?”
Cassie shakes her head, “No, he didn’t. I heard from Jase that August left the training center to get his things out of your house. Did you want to be there while he clears it?”
I nod. “Yeah, I would like that.”
“Are you sure?” Mac asks.
“Positive.”
I want to be there because I have some questions that I need to ask August. What better time than when he’s clearing out Dex’s shit.
We make our way over to my apartment. Hendrix and Mac make themselves busy cleaning up the kitchen for me.
I appreciate that so much. I could have probably managed with my bum knee.
But it’s nice not to have to worry about cleaning up a mess that would have only reminded that he was going to do something really nice for me.
August walks in and his eyes immediately find mine. “Hey, Amelia, I’m here to clear out his stuff.”
I nod. “I heard that you were coming to do this.”
“Is that why you’re here? Worried that I was going to be taking things that weren’t his? I promise not to touch anything that isn’t his,” August shoots me a playful smile.
“No, not worried about that at all.” I say smiling at him. “You get what you need and get his shit out of here.”
“Will do. I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can.” He starts to head back the hallway.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I’m the one who caused this mess, caused him to live with you. It’s only fair that I undo it. It’s the least that I could do.” He shrugs and head back the hallway in search of Dex’s room, with a duffle bag and suitcase.
I look over at Cassie, “He’s not as bad as everyone thinks.”
“I’m beginning to see that too,” she admits.
I leave August to it for a while, but then I decide I have to ask him a question. One that has been running through my mind since Elise left the apartment this morning.
August is now grabbing charging cables and whatever else from the bedside table. He sits down on the edge of the bed and sighs, grabbing what he can and throwing it into the boxes Dex never broke down.
“I have one question for you.” I hobble over to August and sit down on the bed beside him.
“Shoot,” he says, smiling warmly at me.
“Did you know? Did you know all about the cheating and the reason that he was getting a divorce?”
He nods. “Yeah, I knew. He told me about it.”
“When?” I ask.
He sighs a scrubs a hand down his face. “When he called to tell me that his marriage was over. He told me what he had done, all the mistakes that he had made. From there, I made it my mission to get him here, to have him work on this team, because he sounded so devastated. I knew that he needed something to hold onto. I had no idea that when I placed him in here, this apartment, that you two would start something,” August chuckles.
“I thought there was a chance of a hookup but not this sort of relationship that he was building with you. I thought it might have been too soon after the divorce. Plus, I knew that you were practically married to the job, so I didn’t worry about you two starting anything. ”
“Apparently, it wasn’t. Or it didn’t mean anything, and he was scratching an itch.” I shrug and say, “You know what they say, whatever gets you through the day.”
August shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s what this was, Amelia. I really don’t.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“Yeah, he told me that you both said ‘I love you’ last night. Is that true?” I nod. “Then I don’t think that you were a flash in the pan. I know Dex, I’ve known him for quite some time, and that isn’t something he says lightly. Took him a while to say it to Elise.”
“She’s something. Not what I pictured when he said he had an ex-wife,” I admit.
August chuckles. “She wasn’t someone that I thought he would ever marry. I about fell out of my chair when he called me and asked me to be his best man. But I did it. Smiled, put the cummerbund on and watched him make a mistake. Because that’s what he needed from me.”
“Well, unfortunately, you weren’t here to stop him from making a mistake about going after me,” I tell him, my tone as sour as my mood.
“I didn’t think that was my place to tell anyone about anything. But, I wouldn’t have stopped him, or you for that matter. When I saw you two at the bar the other night, I thought to myself, ‘That is the kind of girl that I always saw Dex with.’ You two made sense.”
“What kind of a girl is that?”
“The kind of girl that likes to have fun. Is lighthearted, can laugh at herself, and that makes the man she’s with feel good about himself.
I think all Elise ever did was talk down to him or treat him like a whipped dog.
I wanted to tell her to knock it the fuck off every time I was around the two of them. ”
“How long were they married?” I ask him, taking in the information that he’s giving me.
“About three years,” he admits with a shrug.
“When did he start cheating on her?”
“These are questions that you should be asking him. You know if you would have let him stay and let him talk with you, he could have explained himself,” he bumps my shoulder.
“Well, I don’t want to talk to him,” I say defiantly.
“Right, you want to learn about his marriage, figure out if what he told you was true or if you were another notch on his headboard.”
“Something like that,” I admit.
August sighs, getting up to pick up the last of the items from the bedside table. “I think I got everything. I’ll get all this stuff to him. He’s staying with me in case you want to come and ask him these questions yourself.”
“I don’t.”
“You know, that’s probably where I should have put him to begin with. Saved you all this heartache and trouble.” August comes over to me and pulls me into a side hug. “Make sure you take care of yourself. Don’t neglect your injury and the exercises that he gave you to spite him.”
“I’ll work with Lucas, and I wouldn’t dare risk my recovery because of that asshole.”
“Well, that’s good.” August picks up the last of Dex’s things. He’s been removing the items bit by bit and placing them in his SUV. Thankfully, Dex didn’t come here with much; some clothes, bedding and a few picture frames. “Take care, Amelia, and if you need anything, please let me know.”
“Thanks, August, I will.”
He nods and heads out of the room. Cassie comes back to check on me.
“You okay?” she asks, looking around at the empty room.
I spy a lone rose petal on the floor, I bend down awkwardly, trying to maneuver around the brace to pick it up. It’s beginning to wilt now. I run it through my fingers, feeling how soft it is as it slides along my fingertips.
“Yeah, fine. It’ll be nice to have this room back,” I tell her, getting up and hobbling out of the room.
I catch Cassie’s eyes widen at my comment. “I mean it, I really do.”
Cassie nods and turns, following me. “I’m sure you think you do. Give it some time, you might come to miss him or see this for what it is.”
“And what’s that?”
“An opportunity to see what it can be like when you put yourself out there.” She walks over and puts an arm around me. “It won’t always end this way, Amelia, I promise you that.”
I appreciate her saying it, but I’m not sure I believe her. Putting myself out there confirmed that I would rather cry because I’m alone than cry because I’ve been lied to.