Page 53 of Barron's Second Chance
He blew his breath before running his hands up and down his knees. "Yeah, of course. The floor is yours."
She took a deep breath, choosing to get the hard questions out of the way first. "You said you cheated on me for several reasons - basically all the reasons I gave."
"Except for the love one. Didn't stop loving you, Eden." His eyes were earnest, willing her to believe his words.
Eden nodded but refused to touch that statement. "So you..." She twisted her hands together, unsure how to phrase her next question.
"Can I just say something about that? Not trying to excuse it because there is no justifiable excuse except that I was an idiot," Barron started.
He took a deep breath at her nod and again rubbed his hands down his shorts. A telltale sign that he was nervous.
"I was a little scared going into senior year. Our relationship was amazing; no complaints there. But we were in this bubble."
She frowned, confused about what he meant. "Bubble?"
"Yeah." He looked up, trying to search for the right words. "We were in school; we saw each other every day; our Moms were close. Our life at that point was scheduled - school, hang out, dinners at each other's places, the same friends."
She cocked her head at him, listening intently. She had a feeling she knew where he was going with this speech but wanted to hear him out.
"Senior year, it was going to be it for us. Our routine, our bubble was going to burst. We were going to go off to college, meet new people, figure out our lives, get a job."
"You were scared," she interrupted. She shook her head as she stared at him. "Don't you think I was, too? I was petrified about what the next step was going to be. But Barron, I wasn't worried because I knew I would be facing them with you - together."
Barron paled at her words. He stood and paced the room before her, running his fingers through his hair. He was agitated, but she knew it was at himself rather than her.
"I was an idiot. Simon also got into my head, telling me that no one marries their high school girlfriend. That we both needed to be free to explore what else was out there. Then Lissa came at me strong -"
He abruptly stopped, not wanting to say anything more that might hurt her.
But if she wanted to move on, she needed to know everything.
"Let's talk about Lissa," Eden started.
He swiftly turned to her, his face surprised at her request. "She's nothing to me," he insisted.
"I mean back in school. You were a couple." She swallowed painfully, willing the memories to vanish.
He sat down, his face flushed with anger at himself and embarrassment at having to dredge up something that was clearly hurting her.
"I want you to know I didn't have sex with her."
She reared back, her face scrunched in disbelief. "Like,ever? Surely not."
"Fuck," he sighed and lowered his head. "Sorry. Let me rephrase that."
He took a deep breath before continuing. "For some stupid reason, I thought that if I didn't have sex with her, you'd take me back. So while we did...other stuff," he shifted uncomfortably as a sharp stab of pain pierced her at his words.
But she willed it down. She wanted everything out in one go.
"I didn't let it go all the way with her."
"So, when did you actually sleep with her?" She asked, not wanting to mess around with technicalities. It didn't matter whether he had slept with Lissa or not. He still cheated, and she still would not have taken him back.
He paused before practically spitting it out. "After you left for New York." He lifted pained eyes to her, his gaze pleading with her to continue listening. "I thought to myself, 'well, I've lost her, so what's the point?'"
She watched him cooly. Despite her heart going a mile a minute and her palms sweating at his confession, outwardly, she appeared calm.
"And how long were you together?"
