Heat in the Hamptons

Chapter 30

James woke up Saturday morning hopeful.

He'd spent the last two days throwing himself into work to distract himself from the fact that Addison was living with Noah.

When he'd gone to Noah's house he thought they'd get a chance to recover what was left of their friendship. Surely, Noah wouldn't hate him forever.

He hadn't wanted to try to talk to Noah too soon after everything happened because he knew Noah would ignore him. But after a few weeks, he thought Noah would have calmed down and be ready to hear James out.

Did he know how he was going to talk his way out of this one? No. 

James tried to consider what he would say to Noah to justify what he had done, but he couldn't come up with anything that didn't make it completely his fault.

He could blame Megan, but that ran the risk of Noah finding out the truth. That James had made the first move that night. 

James gave up on trying to plan what to say and decided he'd wing it.

All of that went out the window when Addison opened up the door.

Rage immediately filled him as the cruel realization that she had been next door all along hit him. All those calls and texts never returned, all those nights worried about her, wondering where she was staying and if she was okay, and she was in the house next door.

He wasn't proud of the way he had grabbed her, but what did she expect? Since the night she found James and Megan his worst fear was that Noah and Addison would sleep together, and obviously, that's the way it looked when she opened his door.

After she had kicked him out of Noah's house he decided he'd never re-establish a friendship with Noah. He couldn't believe that Noah would do this to him.

Now, James was hopeful because he knew what he had to do. He'd go next door and get Addison, he'd convince her that she didn't need to live with Noah. He'd offer to pay for an apartment in the city so that she didn't have to live with Noah. Then, after a few weeks, James would move back into the city and work on reminding Addison why she fell in love with him in the first place.

He just had to get her away from Noah.

After James got dressed he headed to Noah's house. Once there he took a deep breath and put his best salesman smile on, and knocked on the door.

And he waited.

After a few minutes, he knocked again.

Nothing.

He tried to peak through the windows but the blinds were drawn.

He sighed. There must be a logical explanation, maybe Noah is working and Addison went to stay with her mom.

James pulled out his phone and dialed Noah's assistant.

"Hi, James!" She answered. She always liked him, he flirted with her while he waited for Noah to get out of meetings in the office when they were in the city.

"Hi Haley, is Noah there?" He hoped Noah hadn't told her what had happened, he hoped she still thought they were friends.

"Nope, he took yesterday and the weekend off to go on a trip." James' jaw clenched.

"Oh, that's weird." His face burned. "Is he alone do you know?"

"I assume he's with Megan, he called me this afternoon to ask me to call in a reservation for him and his guest." 

He thanked Haley and hung up the phone. 

Maybe Noah was with Megan, maybe they had worked everything out and Addison was with her mom in Ohio.

James dialed Megan.

Ignored.

He rolled his eyes and called again.

"What the fuck do you want?" She spit into the phone.

"Where are you right now?"

She scoffed, "Why?"

"Are you with Noah?" He could almost hear her eye roll through the phone.

"Not that it's any of your goddamn business, but no. He still hasn't talked to me."

James hung up on her without responding.

They were on a trip together. 

James felt his blood pressure rising.

This was worse than Addison living with Noah. This was Noah taking time off work which was always like pulling teeth. This was a trip away together, Lord knows where.

James felt his hope dissipate, and then he saw red.

He stormed back to his house and up to his room. He ran to the closet and ripped Addison's remaining clothes off the shelves. He opened the window of the bathroom and started throwing her belongings outside, down two floors into the sand. A pile started to form there in the space between James and Noah's house.

He was glad she would see it.

He threw her shoes, all her clothes into the pile. When he was done with the closet he moved toward the bathroom sink. All her makeup, beauty, and hair accessories, into the pile.

He went downstairs to the extra room where he let her store her books on his bookshelf. Into the pile.

Went to the garage and grabbed all the bins she had left there, and dumped their contents into the sand. 

He ripped every picture of her or Noah off the walls, throwing the frames out with them.

By the time he was done he had essentially erased her from his home.

He stepped outside and looked at the pile. Clothes and papers danced in the sand with the wind.

He couldn't wait for her to see this, see that he threw her away.

He hoped it hurt.

But as he looked at the pile he started to think.

He thought about how Addison and Noah must've laughed at James every time he called her, every time he texted. Mocking him for still trying to contact her even though she was only next door, even though she was already fucking Noah.

Then James thought about the two of them together. Addison moaning underneath Noah's body and his stupid smirk as he railed her.

No, it wasn't enough to throw her out of his life. That wouldn't hurt enough.

He walked slowly to his garage and then came back, his hands full.

He emptied lighter fluid on the pile and threw a match.

He smiled as he watched the items burn and couldn't wait for Addison to see them.

She shouldn't have fucked Noah.