Momentarily stunned, Cam gawked at the coffee staining his bright white shirt. Finally, recovering his wits, he said, “You’re wrong, Bre.”
“Really? So you’re going to stand there and tell me you’re totally innocent, and you have never once cheated on me.” Utterly frustrated, Bre ran her hand through her hair. “I mean, if I listened to Mia—”
“Mia’s crazy. She won’t leave me alone. Maybe I crossed the line with her once or twice, but she means nothing to me. She knows that. I don’t know why she still comes around. She’s just another stupid groupie that comes to our shows.”
Bre’s jaw dropped. “Oh my God, it is true,” Bre whispered.
“Oh please,” Cam said, shrugging his shoulders. “It didn’t mean anything. You know that.”
She flung her body at him, slapping his chest. “I hate you, Cam. I can’t believe you would touch her. You know how much she hates me.” The meaning of Cam’s words suddenly hit her and her rage faded into a sickening realization that repulsed her so much it caused her words to tumble out in an unsteady whisper. “Oh, I get it now. She’s not the only one, is she? There are others, too.” Her stomach rolled. “I’m an idiot. I can’t believe I actually felt guilty for being with…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked at the floor.
Cam grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. “With whom, Bre? Give me his name.”
Pulling his hands off her face, she swatted the tears off her face. “Okay, Cam. You want a name? I’ll give you the name as soon as you give me each and every name of every faceless girl you’ve slept with during our relationship.” Bre stormed out of the kitchen, only to stop abruptly when a yellow notepad on the countertop caught her attention. She picked it up and threw it in Cam’s direction. “You’ll probably need some paper, because I have a feeling your list is much longer than mine. Descriptions aren’t acceptable. Take your time.”
Without waiting for a response, she ran into Cam’s bedroom, frantically stuffing all her clothes and personal items back in her suitcase. After stopping in the bathroom to toss her cosmetic case into her suitcase, she walked to the front door, refusing to look at Cam.
“Bre…” Cam murmured from the barstool in the kitchen.
She halted without turning or saying anything, her hand tightly gripping the door handle.
“I still love you. I always will. Even if you don’t believe it right now, you’re the girl I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. Nothing changes that, not those other women, not that guy. Nobody can come between us. It may not be tomorrow or even a year from now, but I will get you back. You’re mine.”
For some incomprehensible reason, hearing Cam’s words caused a wave of hysteria to burst inside her. She clutched the door handle until her knuckles whitened, trying to calm her unnerving reaction, but it was too late. A bubble of laughter escaped from her lips, and once it started, she couldn’t have stopped it even if she wanted. Overcome, she bent at her waist, bracing her hands on her knees, laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face. Funny, she felt better than she had in weeks. The rollercoaster of her emotions collided together in such a way that it felt like freedom.
“Bre?” Cam questioned, obviously unsettled by her behavior.
“Un-fucking-believable,” she said between gasps of air. “There hasn’t been an us for a long time. I just didn’t know it.”
“Are you okay? You aren’t making sense.” Cam’s light eyebrows drew together in a frown as he studied her face.
Standing upright, she smiled. “Cam, I’m better than I have been in a long time. Have a nice life.”
When she climbed into the back of the taxi, her whole body shook with the knowledge that by leaving Cam’s house tonight, she likely closed the door on their relationship, both literally and symbolically. Rather than being upset, she felt empowered and hopeful. She and Cam might be over and Jax might truly hate her, but she still had the gallery and her friends, and that was enough for now.
Chapter Twenty-Six
After taking the taxi to a hotel only to realize that she’d left her wallet on Cam’s bed when she switched her personal items from her clutch into her daily purse, she knew she only had two options—go back to Cam’s house or call Jax. Exhausted, she ran her hands through her hair and chewed her nails in agitation. Given everything that happened, both options were less than ideal.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” she cried, tears of frustration pouring from her eyes. She punched her hand into the vinyl seat, half wishing it was Cam’s smug face when he said she was his. What a joke, she thought. She couldn’t believe she had wasted so much of her life absolutely devoted to Cam. He may have been her protector when they were children and she was grateful for that, but she should have opened her eyes earlier and listened to her doubts about their relationship.