Page 2 of Inadmissible

Tristan

I t was Tristan’s plan to surprise his girlfriend of three years, Cameron, in Las Vegas, but as he watched her stumble into her hotel room at three in the morning, he was the one who was in for a surprise.

Before a word even left Cameron’s mouth, Tristan knew she’d cheated.

All the signs were there: smeared lipstick, frazzled hair, the scent of a man’s cologne.

The biggest sign? Her panties in her hand.

She dropped them quickly as her eyes widened at the sight of him.

“T-Tristan, w-what are you doing here?”

Chuckling, Tristan lowered himself further in his seat as his eyes slowly slid down her frame.

While he was trying to be a spontaneous and intentional boyfriend, she was cheating.

When Cameron called and told him how much she was missing him on her girls’ trip, Tristan decided to surprise her and flew out.

While a part of him was grateful that he’d caught her because he wasn’t sure if she’d come clean about cheating when she got home, another part of him hated knowing the truth because of the pain that was starting to consume him.

“You said you missed me, so I decided to pull up on you. Let me guess . . .” Tristan stood as his pointer finger and thumb slid down the corners of his mouth. “You missed me so much you couldn’t wait to get home, so you fucked someone else?”

Her eyes snapped shut and she physically recoiled from his words, as if hearing what she’d done was too much for her to bear.

“I can explain, baby.”

“Explain?” he asked humorously. “Go ahead,” he granted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh. Okay.” Clearing her throat, Cameron took small steps further into the room, but she kept a considerable amount of distance between them.

“Maybe I can’t explain, but I can just tell you what happened.

” Tristan nodded. “I was horny and drunk. We went to a strip club and one of the dancers was all on me. He kept putting my hands on his dick and it just kind of happened.”

“So it’s his fault that you cheated?”

“Well . . . yes. If he wouldn’t have had his dick all in my face, I wouldn’t have had sex with him. And then he started putting his face between my legs and . . . one thing led to another.”

Chuckling, Tristan rubbed his palms together as he took long strides in her direction.

No saint himself, Tristan had cheated on a woman once.

It was while he was in college. He’d been with his high school sweetheart since they were in the tenth grade.

By the time he was a sophomore in college, Tristan had started to grow bored and curious about what else was out there.

Instead of being honest with Kayla, he cheated.

One time was all it took for Tristan to decide to never cheat again.

He carried shame and guilt for quite some time over hurting someone he loved so much.

For years, the sight of her tears and piercing sound of her cries haunted him.

On top of that, Tristan hated how he felt doing something so selfish and hurtful.

It went against his character and showed him he wasn’t selfish enough to put his needs above someone else’s feelings and risk hurting them for sex.

But the biggest reason he resolved to never cheat again was losing Kayla.

He’d never loved or felt as bonded to another woman in his life, and Tristan honestly didn’t know if he ever would.

“So because you had no self-respect and discipline and cheated on your man, it was his fault? That’s the excuse you want to keep up with?

” Huffing, Cameron hung her head. “You fucked him in public, Cam?” When she didn’t respond, he rubbed his aching heart through his chest. “Wow. You know what? I can’t even be mad at you.

If you don’t respect yourself, why should I expect you to respect me?

” His hand firmly gripped her chin, forcing her to look in his eyes.

“How can you give me some shit you don’t even have for yourself?

” Her watery eyes did nothing but further infuriate him.

“It was a mistake, Tristan. I’m so sorry,” she muttered as her tears started to fall.

“A mistake?” With boisterous laughter, Tristan released her. “Having public sex with a stripper you don’t even know was a mistake?”

“Yes!” she whined, reaching for his arms and flinching in shame when he pulled away. “I-I just . . . I got caught up in the moment, and I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry, baby. I promise I’ll never do it again.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that.” Making his way toward the closet, Tristan fought to maintain his composure.

He’d never put his hands on a woman and didn’t want to get so angry he did something he regretted.

Usually, Tristan was able to be calm and logical, but catching her right after she did the one thing he made her promise not to do made Tristan feel more emotional than he had in a while.

“Are you breaking up with me?” she asked quietly, plopping down on the edge of the bed. Her eyes remained on him as he shoved his clothes into his bag.

“Yeah. Technically you broke up with me the moment you cheated.”

“But I don’t want to lose you.”

“Then you shouldn’t have fucked someone else.”

“Tristan, please?—”

“Look.” Tristan paused and inhaled a deep breath before continuing. “There’s literally nothing you can say to make me change my mind, so have a little respect for yourself tonight and don’t add begging to the list of fucked up shit you’ve done. It’s over.”

Her sniffles grew louder as he rolled his bag past her and headed toward the door.

“Tristan, I love you! I want to be with you,” she declared, hopping up from the bed.

“I want you too, but I don’t want a woman another man can have. That pussy has lost all value to me. I’ll never respect, trust, or desire you again. Enjoy the rest of your trip, Cam. Your things will be at your parents’ house by the time you get back.”

“Tristan!” she yelled as he opened the door and stormed out, and as he headed down the hall, Tristan released a shaky chuckle as his eyes watered.

“Aight, Big Guy,” he said, looking toward the ceiling as if he could see God. “I got my punishment and my karma. You ain’t gotta let me go through this shit again.”

Gritting his teeth, Tristan wiped away a tear he couldn’t stop from falling, determined to be more careful with his heart if he ever gave it to another woman again.