Edge of Love (18 page)

“
Hey,” he said. “I thought
you might like a beer before you pick up the brat.”

I laughed. “She’s a
handful.”

He looked at me for a moment. “I’m not
trying to get all—girly—on you or anything, but I’m really glad
that you and Scarlet are together. I feel better knowing that she
has a man that will put up with her, call her out on her shit, and
love her unconditionally. Don’t get me wrong, my little sister is
amazing.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Don’t tell her I said
that.” I smiled and he continued. “But I’m glad I have someone to
depend on to take care of her. I know the Penelope incident was bad
and it made Scarlet question your loyalty, but I know you would
never hurt her.” He took a drink of his beer. “Basically, what I’m
trying to say is, welcome to the family.” He stuck out his hand and
shook mine. When he pulled away, he looked at the game on the
screen.

His words meant a lot to me but I
didn’t know how to express that gratitude. I just nodded.
“Thanks.”

“
Yeah.” He ate the peanuts
on the counter. “Do you need any rope?”

“
What?”

“
To get Scarlet out of the
house?”

I laughed. “No. When I apologize,
she’ll come peacefully. I know she missed me as much as I missed
her.”

“
I’m just glad to get rid
of her. Janice and I—we’re very similar, if you catch my meaning.
We like our privacy.”

“
I don’t want to
know.”

He smiled. “You really
don’t.”

14

Scarlet

“
It’s been a week,
Scarlet. Just go home,” Janice said.

I stared at her. “You want me out of
the house or something?” I sat next to her on the couch and crossed
my arms over my chest.

“
It’s not that,” she said.
“It’s just—odd. Are you and Sean even together anymore?”

I played with my engagement ring. “Of
course.”

“
Then go work it out with
him.”

“
We’re at a stalemate.
Either he apologizes, or I do.”

“
Then just suck it up and
do it.”

“
No,” I said. “I don’t
want to have that ridiculous wedding. I won’t do it.”

She sighed. “Wouldn’t you rather have
that wedding than lose Sean?”

I shook my head. “I’m not going to
lose Sean.”

“
Well, he hasn’t come to
you either, Scarlet. Maybe you should talk to him before it’s too
late.”

I took a deep breath. I hated being
apart from him and I admitted that this situation was stupid. But I
wanted to stand my ground. He was being unfair.

She stared at me. “Come on, Scarlet.
Just get over it.”

“
No.”

She rolled her eyes. “You aren’t
perfect either.”

“
What do you
mean?”

I heard the front door open but I
didn’t look at the doorway, too interested in Janice’s words. Ryan
could wait until this conversation was over.

“
Well, you slept with
Cortland and you never told Sean about it. That’s pretty unfair.
Are you ever going to tell him?”

I sighed. “No, I’m not. It will just
cause more problems.” I played with my engagement ring and closed
my eyes. I felt horrible for lying to him, but I knew it would just
mess up my family. Cortland would be ostracized. When I looked at
Janice, her eyes were wide with fear.

When I looked behind me, I saw Sean
standing there. When we fought last week, I’ve never seen him so
angry, but it was nothing compared to this. It looked like he would
actually slap me this time. The anger and hurt in his eyes broke my
heart. His hands shook at his sides while he looked at me. He
didn’t say anything but I thought that was worse. Sean was never
speechless. Ryan stood behind him and covered his face, preparing
for the explosion that was about to take place.

Sean looked like he was about to say
something but he didn’t. He turned around and marched back to the
door. I jumped from the couch and ran after him. “Sean!
Sean!”

He turned around and held up a hand to
me. “Get the fuck away from me!” His hand shook. I had never seen
him act this way. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

“
Sean, listen to
me.”

“
Fuck you,
Scarlet.”

My eyes started to water and a tear
escaped. “Sean, please.”

“
I can’t believe you! You
made a huge ordeal when I didn’t tell you about Penelope and that
wasn’t even any of your goddamn business! You acted like I betrayed
you! And you’re the one who fucked some other guy behind my back!”
He ran his hands through his hair and tore a few strands from his
scalp. “And you have the fucking nerve to get mad at me for having
trust issues when you already cheated on me? This is absolute
bullshit!”
“Sean, listen to me!”

“
NO!” He grabbed my hand
and tore the engagement ring from my finger. “I’m done with you. My
mom was right about you. You aren’t right for me, Scarlet. I
deserve something better. I moved all the way to Seattle for you
and took a job I hate just to be with you, and you fuck me over
like this?”

“
SEAN! IT WASN’T LIKE
THAT!”

“
Fuck you, Scarlet. I
don’t want to hear it. Go fuck yourself.”

I grabbed his arm but he pushed me
away.

I started to sob hysterically. “I
DIDN’T CHEAT ON YOU.”
He walked out the door and into the hallway. I followed
him.

“
Sean.” I grabbed his arm,
but he yanked it away.

“
Get away from me, you
fucking whore.”

“
I didn’t cheat on you!
Listen to me.”

He turned around and faced me. “You
can’t lie your way out of this one, Scarlet. Have Ryan come get
your shit. I want you out of my place tomorrow.”

“
I slept with Cortland
when I moved here. You and I weren’t even talking.” My hands were
shaking and I couldn’t see through the blurriness of my eyes.
“Sean, listen to me.” I fell to my knees and looked up at him. “I’m
not lying.”

“
Goodbye,
Scarlet.”

“
Sean!”

He walked away.

“
I’m not
lying!”

I heard Ryan’s feet walk pass me, and
he grab Sean’s arm. I wiped my tears away and looked up.

Ryan stared at Sean. “She isn’t
lying.”

Sean yanked his arm away. “Good luck
with her.”

Ryan didn’t give up. “She slept with
Cortland before you and I even talked. She had no idea if you were
ever coming back. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

Sean stared at him. “And why should I
believe you?”

“
Scarlet may have made a
mistake, but she isn’t a liar and neither am I.”

“
You should set her up
with Cortland because I don’t want her anymore.”

I cried harder.

Ryan grabbed him again. “She didn’t
tell you because she knew how you would react.”

Sean pushed him. Ryan took the hit but
didn’t retaliate. “Is that supposed to justify it? And what
happened to ‘your part of this family’ bullshit? You didn’t mean a
word you said? You’re my brother! You should have told
me.”

Ryan bowed his head. “This is
Scarlet’s relationship, not mine.”

Sean shook his head. “I don’t want her
anymore.”

I rose to my feet and grabbed Sean’s
hand. “I didn’t cheat on you, Sean. I didn’t. I was wrong for
keeping it from you, but I didn’t cheat on you. Please don’t leave
me. Please. I—I can’t live without you. I’m sorry. I’m so
sorry.”

He looked at me for a moment but then
looked away. I knew I was losing him. He was too upset, too angry
to come back to me. I grabbed his face and kissed him but he pulled
away. “No.”

“
Babe, please.”

He stared at me, a look of hurt on his
face. “I can forgive you for sleeping with Cortland—eventually. But
I can’t forget what I just heard with my own ears. You purposely
kept something from me, that you slept with someone else when you
claimed to be in love with me, and you had no intention of ever
telling me. I was going to marry you, Scarlet, and I never would
have known the truth. I—I can’t trust you.”

I felt my heart break. “Sean, it will
never happen again. I promise.”

He pulled his hands away.
“No.”

“
Please don’t do
this.”

He looked at the ground. “I don’t know
how I feel anymore. I was faithful to you when I was in New York.
Yes, we weren’t together at the time, but I still loved you. I just
can’t believe you weren’t going to tell me the truth. I would have
spent the rest of my life never knowing.”

I was shaking. “I only wanted to
protect Cortland.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Well, I’m
glad you care more about his feelings than mine.”

More tears fell. “It’s not like that,
Sean.”

“
Yes, it is.”

“
Please don’t do this to
me. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I’ll marry
you in Connecticut.”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t work
like that, Scar.”

“
You left me for Penelope
and I forgave you. Your love is unconditional.”

“
It’s not the same thing
and you know it, Scar. Penelope was having my baby. I never wanted
to be with her—I had to. I never lied to you about anything, Scar.
And I kept my own secret because it was none of your fucking
business. This is completely different in every way. How dare you
use my wrongs to justify your own!”

“
That isn’t what I
meant.”

“
Yes, it was.”

I ran my hands through my hair and
tried to calm my breathing. “Please, Sean. I can’t live without
you. I can’t.”

He looked away from me, unable to look
at me for a moment longer. He turned to Ryan. “Help me get her
things.”

Ryan didn’t respond in any
way.

I fell to my knees. “Please don’t do
this,” I cried. “Please.”

Sean walked to the stairwell, but Ryan
didn’t move. “I can get it myself. It doesn’t matter.”

Janice came to me and wrapped her arms
around me. “I got her.”

Ryan followed behind Sean and
disappeared from my sight. I felt my body shatter into a million
pieces. I had never been in more pain in my life. I couldn’t
believe this was happening. I loved Sean. He was the love of my
life. How did everything get so messed up so quickly? I wished I
had never slept with Cortland to begin with. The affair meant
nothing. If anything, it made us closer as friends. Better yet, I
should have just told Sean the truth. He was right. I was just a
huge hypocrite. I couldn’t believe I lost him.

Janice helped me to my feet and
escorted me back to the apartment. I had no control over my body.
Janice had to drag me into my bedroom. I’m glad she didn’t put me
on the couch. Now I just wanted to crawl into a ball and wait for
death to take me. This was the worst thing that could have possibly
happened. I never thought I would lose Sean over this.

I turned on my side and clutched my
body, crying to myself. I didn’t know what to do without Sean. He
was everything to me. Everything.

I heard the front door open again and
I cried harder. I knew Sean brought the rest of my belongings back
to the apartment. I couldn’t believe our relationship was over. I
wanted to fight for him, but I didn’t see the point. He didn’t want
me anymore. And he shouldn’t want me anymore. My bedroom door
opened but I didn’t turn around to look. I knew Ryan would come
eventually.

“
Can you give us a
moment?”

I stiffened when I recognized Sean’s
voice.

“
Sure,” Janice whispered.
She left my side and closed the door behind her.

I sat up and looked at Sean. I wasn’t
sure what he wanted to say to me. He didn’t reach for me in any
way. I wrapped my arms around my knees and looked at the
floor.

He sat down on the bed next to me.
“Scarlet.”

“
I’m so sorry.”

“
I know.”

I closed my eyes and felt the tears
fall.

“
I don’t know if I can
trust you anymore.”

“
I know.”

“
I need some
time.”

“
I understand.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled
out my engagement ring. It reflected in the light of the moon. I
knew he was going to give it back to me. Not so I could wear it
again, but because he had no use for it. It was engraved with my
name. What could he do with it?

He kneeled down on the floor in front
of me and grabbed my hand, slipping it back into place. I felt my
heart jump into my throat at the sight.

“
Scarlet, I love
you.”

I was too emotional to
speak.

“
And I still want to marry
you.”

I wiped away my tears.