No. There was no way that hadn’t been him in that bed. His hair. The way he’d been holding onto Tiffany. The way the sunlight had played with the darker pieces…

It had to be him. Right?

He let go of my wrist, resting both his hands on either side of my head, but didn’t back off, or give me more breathing room. I was too distraught to really care. How could that not have been him? How could I have been so wrong?

“So. Let me get this straight. You saw me in bed with her, and you didn’t think that maybe, just maybe, we should have talked it out?” His jaw flexed. "You don't think that maybe, just fucking maybe, after years of being together, you should have tried to figure out what the hell was going on? Before you, I don't know, just up and left for college all the way across the damn country without telling me why?"

“When you cheated on me?” I pressed my lips together. “No. I didn’t.”

“I didn’t cheat on you,” he said between clenched teeth.

I shook my head, stubbornly refusing to believe him. “I saw you. Your hair…”

“She has a thing for girls with short hair.” He shrugged, staring down into my eyes. I couldn’t look away from his. They were warm. Angry. Passionate. Addictive. “Bigger girls. Sporty ones. Maybe she had a similar build to me. Maybe she was tall. I don’t know. But it wasn’t me. I never would have done that to you. Ever.”

I stared at him, breathing heavily, for the first time not so certain of what I’d seen in that bed. If he hadn’t cheated on me, if he hadn’t done the unforgivable…then he had every right to hate me as much as he did. I was the one in the wrong, not him. I’d been the one to ruin what we’d had, and broken his heart in the process, as well as my own.

That knowledge wasn’t an easy pill to swallow.

Oh God, what did I do?

“I…”

What was I supposed to say? That I was sorry? That I’d made a huge mistake? That it was too late to fix it now, but if I could go back in time to change what I’d done, I would. But…would I? Aside from Vinnie, I’d been happy in North Carolina. I’d made lifelong friends, gotten an amazing degree, and had become the woman I was today while there. Would I change all that if I could? Would I go back in time and choose him instead?

When I remained silent, he shook his head, letting out a laugh. “So that’s why you left me. Because I ‘cheated’ on you.”

I nodded, still saying nothing.

I’d been so young. So hurt. I’d just…ran. Was that so bad? Did that make me a bad person, that my fight or flight instinct had kicked in, and I’d chosen flight?

At my continued silence, he locked eyes with me again, staring down at me challengingly. If he was waiting for me to apologize, he’d be waiting a long time. I’d apologize if and when I deemed I should, and not a second before. After all, I’d done what I’d done because I thought he’d cheated on me. Now he was saying it wasn’t true, but who said that was the truth?

Maybe he was still covering his ass.

He’d never liked being the bad guy.

Laughing again, he shook his head slightly as he backed off. “Guess it really doesn’t matter anymore why we broke up, huh? It’s not like we’re going to pick up where we left off.”

I snorted. I couldn’t help it. Despite my attraction to him, and any lingering feelings that I would deny until I turned blue in the face if asked about, he’d been a complete and utter asshole to me from the second I stepped foot in the precinct. I’d sooner kiss a frog than him.

Or so I kept telling myself, anyway.

He stiffened, stopping his retreat. He hovered over me now, his arms half bent, his face level with mine so his breath fanned over my cheeks. His breath smelled like whisky and gum. There was something in the way he pressed against me, his shoulders to mine and his hands on either side of my head, that screamed of dominance. Despite my earlier thoughts about not wanting to kiss him anymore, something in my stomach twisted, and I held my breath because oh my God, I wanted to kiss him. Right here. Right now. Would he taste as good as I remembered?

No. Probably even better.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked slowly.

His voice was deep. So deep it literally sent shivers down my spine.

Craaaaap.

I should back down. Talk him out of whatever the heck was happening. Make sure that we didn’t cross any lines, because there were about a million reasons why those lines shouldn’t be crossed. But he was looking at me as if he’d been waiting years for this moment, and if I was a little honest with myself, so had I. It was time to clear the air.

Then, maybe, we could finally move on…

And be partners.

So, I opened my mouth, and spoke without caution…God help us both. “It means that you’re right, and there’s no way in hell I would want to pick up where we left off.”

He laughed again, only it wasn’t really a laugh. It was more of a…challenge. “Is that so?”

“Yeah. That’s so.” I rested my hands on his chest, laying them on his hard (very hard) pecs. Clearly, some things had changed about him. I’d be willing to bet he never skipped a day at the gym, whereas as a teen, he’d been more apt to never skip a day at his Xbox. “You’re not exactly my type, Rollins.”

He stiffened even more beneath my fingers. “I’m not…” he broke off, laughing again, and leaned in even closer. So close it would take little to no effort from me to close the distance between us and find out if he was still the best I’d ever had. “Your tastes have changed that much, huh?”

My heart thudded against my ribs, stealing the breath right out of my lungs, making my legs tremble with weakness. Or had he been the one to do that to me?

Moaning, my stomach tightened, and every nerve in my body demanded I rise on my tiptoes to taste his lips. Instead, I fisted my hands in his shirt, met his stare, and said: “No, you’re the one who’s changed that much. You’re an asshole now.”

“And you’re a bitch now,” he shot back, his tone hard.

I shrugged. “I’m okay with that.”

“So am I.” And just like that, whatever spell he’d been holding over both of us snapped, and he pushed off the wall with both hands. “But, hey. I’ll see you tomorrow. Enjoy your dinner, it’s your favorite…provided that hasn’t changed, too.”

I let out a breath as I watched him go, and sagged against my house, breathing heavily. As he left, all I could think was: Damn it, I should have kissed him.