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I can’t let him stop me now, so I blunder on, afraid to stop. “I kissed someone else!”

There’s another horrible pause and my heart thunders in my chest so violently I’m sure I can hear it.

“You what?”

I take a deep breath and try to be coherent. “I was upset. I just miss you. I was drinking and I wasn’t myself. There’s really no excuse, I know. But we kissed and he um… he touched me.”

I expect anger. Disgust. I’m disgusted with myself.

What I don’t expect is what comes out of his mouth. “Well, shit. I never thought you’d do something like that, but I’ve gotta say I’m relieved.”

I blink. “You are?”

“Sure. I think it makes this whole conversation easier for both of us.”

“It does?”

“Here’s the thing. We’ve both been busy lately, and I guess we’ve grown apart a little. Truth be told, there’s someone else. I wasn’t going to say anything about that, only it seems like we’re both on the same page.”

“We are?” I can’t seem to stop stupidly repeating back what he says without really processing what’s happening here. What is this? Is he saying what I think he’s saying?

“Yeah. I mean. I’m glad we can still be friends. We’ve known each other a long time after all.”

My mouth falls open, but try as I might, I can’t make any words come out.

“Listen, you don’t know how relieved I am that this doesn’t have to be awkward. I was so worried,” Justin continues. “I just have to follow my heart, you know? And you should follow yours. You know I only want the best for you.”

I don’t think his tone would be quite so breezy if he could see my face right now.

“Listen, I’ve gotta go, but maybe we can talk some more about this later on, OK? I’d like you to meet Rechelle. I think you two would really get along great.”

Rechelle? As in Rechelle Oaks, the one all the gossip sites have been speculating about for months?

Heat rises up my throat until sweat prickles the back of my neck. “Justin, what are you talking about? I was calling to confess. To apologize. Because I thought you’d care. I didn’t expect you to turn around and rub your own cheating in my face.”

“Babe, what’s the point in getting wound up about things now? We’ve both done things we’re not proud of.”

I grit my teeth around a particularly ugly insult. He’s not wrong. Why does it seem like only one of us is actually sorry about it? “So that’s it? You don’t want to try to work things out?”

“Liv, I think we can both admit we’ll be happier this way.”

I swallow all the things I wanted to say. The part where I tell him I still love him. That I never stopped thinking about him. What good would it do?

He clearly doesn’t feel the same way.

I wonder how I could have been so blind.

“Justin?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How long have you and Rechelle…?”

“Oh um… well I was going to tell you. I guess it’s been about six months.”