"You... you... slept with—"
"Have you ever stopped to think
why I did what I did?"
"You mean why you slept—"
"Nothing happened. I wouldn't do
that to you. It was a set up. Melissa played her part, went home, and then I
got shit-faced drunk."
Turning away from him, she snarled,
"Very convincing set up. I catch two naked people rolling around in the
sheets. Clothes flung everywhere."
Robert pleaded to a hostile back.
"Nothing happened. I swear. Nothing happened!"
"Oh sure, that's easy to say
now."
"Melissa and I got some beer and
pizza."
"Chinese." She snapped
around to face him. "The table was covered in take-out Chinese and three
beer bottles. One upright and two lying down. Which is what you do to an
empty beer."
"Ok, it was Chinese take-out. We
ate supper. Threw some extra clothes around."
Her gaze locked on his. "Your
shirt was on the floor. Her blouse was on the couch."
"When we heard you drive up, we
raced to the bedroom, threw our shirts next to the bed and climbed under the
sheets. She started moaning like a porn star as you walked in the room. I pretended
to pop up from under the sheet and say something. Which I've no doubt you're
about to tell me, as you seem to have this moment burned into your brain."
Not bothering to even attempt to hide
the sarcasm in her voice, Julie said, "You said, Sorry babe. This is gonna
have to be quick. She'll be here soon. And I said, She's already here."
"I remember that."
"And then I stormed out of the
room."
"And I followed." Robert
closed his eyes and rubbed his face. When he opened them, Julie was still
glaring at him. "Think about it. How could I've gotten in front of you in
less than a second with my jeans on? If I'd been screwing Melissa, would my
jeans've been on?"
"Answer me this," she
snapped. "What the hell were you thinking when you were standing there
staring at me? What was it that went through your mind? I've never been able to
figure out your expression."
"I swore I wouldn't crack. I'd
stay tough. But the look on your face nearly shattered my heart. I was standing
next to you before I realized I'd gotten out of the bed. Part of me was happy.
I'd pissed you off. You'd go dance. And a part of me was... was, I don't know
what it was. I saw you were heart-broken and angry, and whatever else was
running through you, and that hurt. Hurt's not the right word. It almost killed
me to see you like that."
Julie lunged forward. Robert jumped
back. With each word, she moved closer. "You pushed me away. You made me
leave so I'd go dance. You tricked me into hating you." She froze.
