Nine-tenths of the Law

Chapter Six

On the way up the stairs to Jake’s apartment, I ground my teeth hard enough to make my jaw ache. I had a strange feeling of returning to the crime scene, coming back to the place where I’d helped Jake deceive Nathan. Though I was also being cheated, Nathan was in the picture first. Unknowingly or not, I’d encroached on his territory.

And this, I thought with a sigh as I stood in front of Jake’s door, is where it happened. I figured time would eventually soothe my conscience. It would probably take less time than it took Nathan to get over this whole thing.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered to myself as guilt rose in my throat once again. We’d all get over it. Eventually. For now, I had to deal with Jake.

With my heart in my throat and my other fist balling at my side as if I thought to smack him when he came to the door, I knocked.

He opened the door and smiled. It was that same damned smile that had knocked my knees out from under me time and time again in the past. Tonight, it just made me want to knock his teeth out of his face.

“Zach, it’s so good to see you.” He reached for me, but I backed away, glaring at him.

“I just came to give you your key,” I said.

His smile fell. “Can we at least talk about this?”

I held out my hand, the key lying across my palm. “There’s nothing left to talk about.”

“Zach, honestly.” He put his hands up and shook his head. “There’s a lot you don’t understand.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I still held out the key. “Like why you would lie to me. And why you’d cheat on someone like him.”

He snorted. “Please. You don’t even know him.”

I know him better than you might think, jackass. “Take the key.”

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the doorframe. “Zach, if you’d let me explain-”

“There’s nothing to explain.”

“How do you know that?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Were you sleeping with me?”

“Yes.”

“And were you sleeping with him?”

He set his jaw. “Yes, but-”

“Did you tell him about me?”

Shifting his weight, he held my gaze without flinching, looking me right in the eye like the unrepentant bastard that he was. “No.”

Through my teeth, I said, “And did you tell me about him?”

“No, I didn’t.”

I turned my outstretched hand over, letting the key fall to the cement patio with a sharp, metallic clang. “Go to hell, Jake.”

I started down the stairs, but Jake’s hand was instantly on my arm. He didn’t grip it tight enough to hurt, just enough to get my attention. My glare shifted from his face to his hand and back.

He loosened his grasp. “Zach, please. Can we just talk? For a few minutes?”

“Why?”

Releasing my arm, he said, “I just want to talk. Then you can go.”

“Oh, why, thank you,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Glad to know I have your permission. Good-bye, Jake.”

“After six months, you can’t be bothered with ten fucking minutes?”

Narrowing my eyes, I said, “No. After six months of being used, I can’t be bothered with you.”

“Jesus, Zach,” he said, his lips thinning, not unlike the way Nathan’s had the other night. “You walked out before you heard a damned thing. How do you know he and I weren’t on the way out?”

I rolled my eyes again. “Oh, really? So what was I? A placeholder? The job you lined up before giving your current one two weeks’ notice?”

His gaze and shoulders dropped. “Look, I fucked up, okay? I should have gotten rid of him a long time ago. You’re the one I wanted to be with, not him.”

“So you lied to both of us?” I bit back the anger that threatened to come bubbling up to the surface. “And you think that I’m willing to come back to you after you cheated with me?”

“I told you, I fucked up,” he said, meeting my gaze. “I’m sorry. I should never have cheated on either of you, but losing you was…” He shook his head. “I’m just, I’m sorry. I want to try again.”

My single sharp cough of laughter sounded much more sarcastic than I’d intended, but I didn’t apologize for it. “Try again? So do I get to be the unsuspecting boyfriend this time when you get bored with me and find someone else?”

“No, that’s not-”

“You’re right, it’s not what’s going to happen,” I said. “Because we’re done. If I can’t trust you, I can’t be with you.” I shrugged, not caring how flippant I came across. I was dangerously close to losing my temper, so if my sarcasm kept it at bay, then I didn’t care if it meant verbally slapping him across the face a few times. The last thing I wanted was a screaming match in his doorway.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I said, “I’m having a hard enough time looking at myself in the mirror knowing that I was part of something that hurt him.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, it’s not like you did anything.”

“No,” I said, willing myself to stay civil. “But I have this unfortunate thing called a conscience. Something you obviously lack.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he snapped.

“Good idea,” I said. “I won’t be. In fact, I think I’ll be leaving.” And I turned to do just that.

“Christ, as if you’re the perfect man,” he snarled.

I stopped in my tracks. Deep breath. Deep breath. Don’t lose it. He’s not worth it. Turning around, keeping what was left of my cool, I said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He leaned against the doorframe again, giving me a smug grin. “Don’t tell me you’ve never looked. Never thought about playing the field.”

“And looking is the same as touching?”

“So you’ve never touched?” He glared at me, a pointed, suspicious expression in his eyes as his brow pulled together. “Not once?”

I rested a hand on the railing at the top of the stairs. “Are you accusing me of something?”

He folded his arms across his chest again. “Guilty conscience?”

“Jesus, Jake. I don’t have time to play mind games with you.” I put my hands up. “I have never cheated on you. Never.”

“If you say so.” Jake knelt and picked up the key I’d dropped. He held it up. “Thanks for bringing this back.”

Then he disappeared into his apartment.

I stared at the door for a moment, wondering what the hell had just happened. Was he always this manipulative? Did he always find a way to turn things around on me?

Shaking my head, I went down the stairs and got in my car. As I started the engine, I thought back to the last few fights we’d had. I tried to think of one-just one-that hadn’t ended with me apologizing, but couldn’t. Yet virtually every fight had started because of something that had upset me.

And now he was even trying to turn his infidelity around on me.

I cursed under my breath as I headed down the street, letting his apartment fade in the rearview. I still hated how this whole thing went down, especially knowing that Nathan had to get hurt, too, but I’d be damned if I wasn’t glad to have washed my hands of Jake.