The Pact(51)

What.

The.

Fuck.

I do end up dropping the phone as my heart leaps up into my throat. The room spins and I’m struck with an unbearable hit of anger and humiliation.

Break up with Nadine? The asshole just asked her to move in with him!

I am so damn livid that I actually make it across the store, lock the door and flip the sign over to CLOSED. The shop is empty and I want to keep it that way. There is no way I can deal with one single citizen of humanity without wanting to rip their head off.

I go back to the phone and read it again. People have commented with, “Yay, so lucky!” and all that fucking bullshit and I am so damn tempted to write “He was supposed to dump your ass, what happened?!” but I don’t. I at least have a sliver of decorum left and should work to preserve that.

But I’m not perfect. Instead of writing that to Nadine, I send a text to Linden.

Fuck you.

And then I turn off my phone and hurl it at the wall.





CHAPTER TWELVE

LINDEN



I knew it was a mistake. I knew it the moment I opened my mouth and I knew it even more when Stephanie sent me a single text that said: Fuck you.

She knew what had happened. I have royally¸ expertly fucked up.

All because I’m trying to be a good guy.

That damn dare started it all.

When I kissed Stephanie, it didn’t even matter if everyone was watching. They weren’t even there. It was just between me and her. That’s all there was at that moment, just the two of us, just her sweet pink lips that taste like cinnamon and the silk of her hair and the way her body so easily tugs toward mine, like it belongs pressed up against me.

That’s all I could see and all I’d ever want.

And then it intensified and I knew I was getting hard and that it was so inappropriate and getting out of hand and then suddenly my girlfriend was there and shoving Stephanie out of the way.

I couldn’t fault Nadine for acting that way, but I wish she had directed it toward me. I was being the pig, the asshole here. None of that was Stephanie’s fault. I was the one who so desperately wanted more than she was giving.

But at least she was giving me something, something that was right up there with all my deepest dreams.

Stephanie ran off and then Penny followed. Nadine was yelling at me about taking things too far and I couldn’t do much but agree with her, blame it on being drunk – because I was drunk and that certainly helped me take it further than I should have. Then she slapped me – again, well deserved – and stormed off to bed and then I was left with Aaron and James.

The odd thing was, Aaron didn’t really look all that upset and when I came back to the table and sat down beside him, saying, “Hey, sorry about that, I’m a bit drunk,” Aaron just laughed and said, “No worries, dude!” and then asked me to hand him a beer.

But James…James had kill, kill, kill, die, die, die written all over his face and it’s like I could almost see him turning into Jason and sawing me in half. It didn’t really surprise me though, considering the vibes I’d been picking off of him lately.

It didn’t surprise me, but it worried me. Was it possible that even though he was with Penny and seemed very happy, that James was still in love with Steph? And if that was the case, just what did that mean for me?

I didn’t know and I still don’t. If Steph and I ever got together and James told me that he was still in love with her, I’d step back. I don’t want to be that guy, especially when you’re not supposed to go after your best friend’s ex.

But though James was trying to kill me with his glare, he didn’t say anything and I wasn’t about to pry. I operate best on denial.

So I went after Steph and found her beside his car, hiding it seemed. Was it from me? Nadine?

One look into her eyes though I knew she was regretting what had happened, that she too had been carried away. I needed to show her that it was okay.

I wanted to tell her all the dirty things I’d been dreaming about for years.

But she was a good girl. She thought about Aaron. And I thought of Nadine.

I knew I had to end things with her. I couldn’t go back to being with her when I knew how much better it could be with Steph. One kiss and my whole world was colored.

That next morning and the whole ride back to the city, I was thinking of when I should do it, how I should do it. Nadine wasn’t going to take it well and she’d immediately accuse me of being with Stephanie, even though things just hadn’t been working out between us for a long time.

I had it all planned too. I would show up at her house with a bottle of wine on Monday night to just ease her into it and then explain that I feel that she’s looking for a future that I’m not willing to provide and I need to be single and find myself and all the things that are buried in truth.