hurt she’d just inflicted, but I clenched my jaw before my chin could tremble. “Was I just supposed to let him keep hiding stuff from me? Is that how relationships work? Tell me, Mother dear, is that how it is with you and Dad?”
“You damn well know it isn’t,” she snapped. “But you didn’t even give that boy a fighting chance.”
I pressed my lips together and looked away, knowing she was right.
The waitress dropped off a basket of bread and quickly walked away, sensing the tension at our table.
“Shaw, honey.” Reluctantly, I glanced diagonally across the table to where Aunt Emmie was patiently sitting. “You seem miserable. I’ve talked to your parents and even Violet, and they all say the same thing. You’ve been hurting. Do you regret what happened with you and Jagger?”
Tears burned my eyes. “Yes,” I whispered. “I just don’t know how to fix this mess.”
Mia put her arms around my shoulders and gave me a small smile. “Have you tried saying you’re sorry?”
I gave an emotional snort. “Do you think it would be that easy?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s a good place to start.”
“I think ‘I’m sorry’ is the perfect place to begin,” Aunt Emmie said with a reassuring smile. “Quickly followed by ‘I love you.’” Her eyes darkened, and she lost the smile. Suddenly, the woman staring back at me wasn’t my beloved aunt who would have moved heaven and earth for me. In her place was Jagger’s mother, and she was a fierce momma bear ready to annihilate me if I hurt her precious cub again. “It’s okay to be scared, Shaw. Especially after watching your best friend go through such a tragic breakup. But hurting people to keep yourself from hurting is one of the most selfish things you could possibly do to someone you love.”
“I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered. “I didn’t mean…”
“You told him you don’t love him,” she said in a chilly voice. “I think you did mean it. But I’m giving you the chance to correct it.”
Had I really said that? I bit my lip, thinking back.
Oh fuck. I really had said it.
No wonder he hadn’t tried to call me.
Gasping, I grabbed my bag and jumped to my feet. “I-I have to go.”
“Yeah, I think you should,” Mom said with the beginnings of a smile tilting at her lips.
As I hurried through the dining room, I thought I heard Mia say, “That went so much better than I anticipated.”
Outside, I grabbed a cab and gave him Jagger’s address. The whole ride there, I kept playing out what I should say to him, nervous I’d left it too late and he wouldn’t even want to see me. I had my key in case he didn’t want to let me in, so I tried to reassure myself I could at least make him listen if he wouldn’t open the door. I would just sit on his couch and keep telling him how sorry I was over and over again until he believed me.
I stepped off the elevator on Jagger’s floor and started toward his apartment. I was already digging through my purse for my key, just in case he wouldn’t let me in, when I heard a door opening. Looking up, I saw Dana step out of Jagger’s apartment. She was in what I thought was one of his T-shirts and, from the looks of it, nothing more. Her legs were bare, her face free of makeup, and her hair in sexy tangles around her shoulders.
Swallowing hard, I stopped walking and just stood there. My heart pounding, I watched as Jagger stepped out with her, and my heart shattered. He was in only a pair of boxers, and his hair was just as unkempt as Dana’s.
It seemed like I was too late. Jagger had already moved on.
“Shaw?” he said my name in a hoarse voice, and I lifted tear-filled eyes to his pale face. “What…are you doing here?”
Wrapping my fingers around his key, I swallowed the knot in my throat and walked on shaky legs the last few yards toward them. I didn’t look at Dana—fuck, I could barely look at Jagger, but I did.
When I was within arm’s reach of him, I thrust out my hand and uncurled my fingers, showing him the key. “I wanted to return this,” I got out in a voice that cracked.
His fingers trembled when he took it from me, and I watched him swallow hard. “Shaw, this isn’t—”