Page 283 of Bitter’s Sweet

Damn him.

He looks around the same garage where he destroyed me.

“I told everybody she decided sex meant more than what I offered. That was bullshit too.”

Trixie’s expression hardens.

Bitter does not look away.

“Before Sweet slept with me, she told me she didn't share. I agreed. I promised her there would be no other women.”

Boogie’s face loses every trace of humor.

“I cheated on her anyway.”

Nobody moves.

Nobody looks at me.

That helps.

Bitter's voice stays level.

“She did not misunderstand anything.”

The sentence lands somewhere so deep I have to swallow.

“I did not warn her and then get unfairly blamed because she wanted more. She told me what she needed. I agreed to it. Then I broke my word because I wanted to hurt her badly enough that she'd stop trusting me.”

His eyes come to mine.

I cannot look away.

“And when she asked me in this garage if what happened between us was real, I told her it wasn't enough.”

My throat closes.

“That was a lie too.”

The correction I did not know I needed this badly.

Bitter looks around the room again.

“I made her look stupid because I was too much of a coward to let everybody see she mattered.”

Nevermore looks at the floor.

Hyde does not.

Trixie watches Bitter with something almost like approval.

Bitter's voice roughens slightly.

“She doesn't owe me forgiveness because I finally grew a spine. She doesn't owe me anything.”

He glances toward Trixie.

“And Trixie didn't know I had promised Sweet exclusivity. What happened is on me, not her. Nobody in here puts what I did on Trixie. If you've got a problem with what happened, bring it to me.”