Page 53 of Flawless

“Shut up before I knock your teeth out!” I had to get out of here, before I made good on my threat.

I was waiting in the parking lot when the sleek black car dropped Rylee off in front of her building.

I felt a little like a creeper, but I couldn’t leave town without pleading my case.

“Rylee!”

She whipped around as the car pulled away, before shouting, “Get lost, Cam! I told you I have nothing to say to you!”

“Baby, please.” I knew I was crossing the line by blocking her entrance to the building, but I was desperate. “I’m so sorry.” I tried to touch her, but she jumped back like I’d burned her. “I know you didn’t cheat on me. I was out of my mind when I saw that video and I wasn’t thinking clearly. I⁠—”

“Why now?” she demanded, reaching into her purse for her keys. “Why have you all of a sudden decided that I’m innocent?”

“I—” There was no way to answer this without looking bad, but she deserved the truth. “I made that sonofabitch tell me the truth, that he took that video when you were together, not⁠—”

“Get out of my way.” She tried to push me aside, but I was like trying to move a brick wall when I stood my ground. “So, you didn’t come to your senses because you’d done some soul-searching and realized I would never do something like that to you. You had to get confirmation from him, that I wasn’t a traitorous slut. Good to know.”

My voice was raspy when her eyes filled with tears. “What do you want me to do to make this right, Ry? I’ll do anything. Please, just give me a chance.”

“I gave you a chance.” She squared her shoulders and looked me in the eye, letting her tears fall. “I gave you a chance when I let you into my bed. I gave you a chance when I shared my deepest and darkest secrets with you. I gave you a chance when I trusted you enough to introduce you to my mama. I gave you a chance when I trusted you with my heart, when I fell in love with you⁠—”

“You gotta know this is killin’ me, baby.” I hung my head. “I’ve been a mess this week. Losing you⁠—”

“Losing me is your own damn fault!” she shouted, poking me in the chest. “If you’d trusted me, as much as I trusted you, you never would have lost me.” Before I could apologize again, she added, “If your ex had sent me a video like that, I would have called her up, reamed her out for being so pathetic, shown it to you, and deleted it. End of story, because I wouldn’t have had to ask you. I would have known you could never do something like that to me.”

I knew I didn’t have the right, but I reached for her, sinking my hands into her hair, resting my forehead against hers as I whispered, “I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you, if you’ll let me? Please. You gotta let me.”

“I can’t.” Her voice was as broken as mine when she said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me.” Her eyes met mine when she said, “We’re done.”

Chapter Twenty

Rylee

It had been over a week since our parking lot goodbye, but I still thought of him every damn day. Lost sleep over him every night. But that didn’t mean I would take him back. I meant what I said. If he couldn’t trust me, it couldn’t work. Given how often I was on the road, with other men, trust had to be the bedrock of our relationship. That was a non-negotiable.

Today I was working with Austin on my next studio album when my stomach roiled. It had been doing that a lot lately. I knew it was because my nervous system was such a mess since breaking up with Cam.

“Excuse me, Austin. I need a minute.”

I ran to the washroom and lost my breakfast. For the third time that week. I returned, probably looking a little green, after rinsing my mouth and splashing cold water on my face.

“Everything okay?” he asked, frowning.

I flattened my hand against my stomach, willing it to stop churning. Before I could assure Austin I was fine, Eden walked in.

“Hey guys,” she said, shooting a look at me, then her fiancé. “I’m sorry, did I interrupt something? I was just stopping by to see if y’all wanted to grab some lunch.”

“Ugh.” I sank down and reached for the bottle of water I’d opened earlier. “Sorry, Eden. I’ve got an upset stomach. I don’t know what the hell it is.”

I sank down in a leather chair in the studio, holding the cool bottle against my forehead.

“Maybe I’m coming down with something. I’ve been tired too, but that’s probably because I haven’t been sleeping all that well. My stomach has been acting up all week, and I’ve been getting these headaches⁠—”

I shook my head. “I’m sure it’s nothing. I probably just need to rest for a few days, that’s all.”

“Babe,” Eden said, resting her hand on Austin’s shoulder. “Can I have a minute alone with Rylee?”

He shrugged. “Sure, I’ll head over to Jimmy’s.” He kissed Eden on the lips. “Meet me over there?”