Chapter 10
“Nice tits?”
The familiar voice feeding through my hearing aid has me freezing. Which is fitting, seeing as how I’m in the refrigerated section of the Piggly Wiggly, currently filling my cart with frozen pizzas—aka my go-to meal.
Damn it.He probably staked out this aisle of the grocery store, knowing I’d eventually show up here.
Then, his words register, and a small, triumphant spark of victory lights in my chest. At least in this first face-to-face interaction since that night, I’ve gotten one over on him yet again. Another bit of revenge.
Never enough to make up for what he did to me. But I’ll take what I can get.
Making sure nothing but casual interest shows on my face, I turn to meet the frustrated eyes of my ex.
“Do you have a problem?” I ask, voice overly polite, as if I’ve never seen his handsome, punchable, lying face before.
“A problem? What the hell, Robin? I picked those flowers out for you.” Daren stares down at me with wild eyes, his hand dragging through his wheat-colored hair.
The shade is a trademark of the Krauts. All the men are big, burly, and blond. All, except for Arthur with his mother’s dark hair. I used to compare Daren to the god of thunder. But he doesn’t deserve that compliment now. His betrayal has forever dimmed his handsomeness. And I’m determined to be strong enough to squash all attraction I’ve ever had for him and ignore the ache in my chest where my love for him used to be.
Watching him panic helps.
“What the hell were you thinking, sending those flowers to Trinity?” Daren groans. “She opened the card at work. In the senior center! She thinks I sent them and wrote the note.”
It takes everything in me to keep my evil grin to myself as I remember the simple message I attached to the roses.
Trinity,
Nice tits.
—Daren
Because of themagic of a small town, I knew exactly where the woman who my boyfriend was cheating with worked. The senior center is a major gossip hub. If a few of those old folks happened to glance at the card, fine by me.
Daren and I are done. Sooner everyone knows that fact, the better.
“So sorry. It was an honest mistake.” I lay the fake sympathy on thick. “I thought you had a mix-up. When we last saw each other, you seemed thoroughly enamored with Trinity’s boobs. And you should really only be sending flowers to the person you’re sleeping with. Or else people will talk.” I lean toward him and lower my voice. “You know how these small towns are. Gossip is as tasty as Daisy’s doughnuts around here.”
He huffs out a frustrated breath. “I ended things with Trinity. It’s over between us. I swear.”
Oh, well, if he swears.
How can the man be so dense? Does he really think that not sleeping with another woman anymore will cancel out all the times he did fuck around?
I clap. Slowly.
“That must have been hard for you. Really, I’m impressed. Tell me, did you call it off before or after one last go in the bed we used to share?”
With a growl, he paces away from me, but only to the other side of the aisle, as if he needs distance to collect his thoughts before facing me again. Daren is a handsome, smooth-talking devil when he’s got his charm going, but this flustered version is so much easier to deal with.
As if realizing his normal charisma is malfunctioning, Daren raises his chin and stares at the ceiling, sucking in a deep breath as he does.
Calming himself.
Oh no, you don’t. I don’t want any well-thought-out arguments from you.
Not that they would work. When you’ve seen your long-term boyfriend fondling another woman’s tits in the home you shared, it’s easy to hold on to righteous rage. The stinging of pinching gears from my pain machine never lets up. There’s still a part of me that loves the asshole, but that piece of my heart chars along the edges every time I bring the memory of his unfaithfulness to mind.
Not long before all traces of the love we had are ashes.
Doesn’t help that he’s only apologizing because he got caught.
At first, I felt like a shitty partner for doubting him. Thought that all the years of seeing my mom date duds had twisted my mind and made me incapable of trust. That I was making up reasons not to be happy.
But the small things kept piling on. There was the way Trinity popped up at the Jam Session or Genie’s when we were there and how she would laugh at all of Daren’s jokes and grab his arm. And he’d just smile back. Then, there was how he put a lock on his phone a few months back when he never used to bother with one. And he’d get texts at odd hours that he claimed were for work.
I know there are bridezillas in the world who might expect their wedding planning company to be available twenty-four seven, but why would they be contacting the company’s finance manager at midnight?
Then, the last few times I went to visit my mother, he would only answer my check-in texts with single-word responses. Basically, going radio silent.
The acrylic nail I found in our sheets after my last out-of-town trip was the tipping point—when I knew there had to be something wrong, and it wasn’t a fabrication of my insecurities.
But I still needed proof. Something to hold in my hands and know that the betrayal was real.
Which was where a helpful librarian came in. Not wanting to risk Daren seeing what I was researching, I went to Green Valley Library to use their computers. But one froze in the middle of my search for a private investigator, and as I sat—red-faced in embarrassment over being found out—while a librarian troubleshot the machine, she whispered to me about Sniffing Around. The Green Valley–based PI company that prioritized discretion over all else.
Through her, I connected with Clarine. Wasn’t long before I had pictures of Trinity sneaking into my house and printouts of X-rated text exchanges.
If I had never hired Clarine, Daren would probably be planning his next liaison right now.
This apology isn’t worth printing on the toilet paper I wipe my ass with.
“Where are you staying?” he asks, as if he has the right to know.
“Somewhere you haven’t fucked a strange woman.” At least, I hope that’s the case.
Daren probably has slept in Arthur’s guest room before, but I doubt the postman would sign off on his cousin using his house as a hookup spot.
“Robin...” Daren speaks my name with a deep timbre I used to find soothing, and with my hearing aid in my left ear, I can hear him even if I turn my head away. “I fucked up. Bad. I’m a complete and utter piece of shit. I don’t deserve you. I know that.” He holds my eyes, his stare desperate and unyielding. “But you can’t tell me there’s nothing still left between us. As long as that’s there, we can fix this.”
We. There is no we anymore. And that’s entirely his fault.
I grind my teeth to keep from biting his head off. To keep from hissing and shouting and losing my higher ground of holding myself together so this man doesn’t know the extent to which his betrayal has devastated me.
Daren doesn’t deserve a single glimpse of my pain.
“Good job,” I simper. “That was super moving. I really think Trinity will take you back when you give her that spiel. Maybe add a few tears for an emotional punch.”
I grab the handle of my shopping cart and move to push around him, but Daren steps in the way.
“Stop it, Robin. I’m serious.”
“Oh, really?” I taunt. “I have trouble telling with you.”
Now, he’s the one grinding his teeth. But he drags in another one of those calming breaths and holds my eyes. “I’m not going to let you push me away with sarcasm. It’s childish.”
A disbelieving laugh bursts from my chest, cracking my perfectly maintained air of unaffectedness. “Some might argue that fucking another woman whenever I left town for the weekend because your dick got lonely if someone wasn’t touching it for twenty-four hours is childish.”
Daren leans over me, which I hate he can do. Not that I’m intimidated by him. I’ve been trained to take down men his size. Still, I want to be the one to loom in this kind of situation.
“That’s not how it was.”
I’m about to throw back, Oh, well then, how was it? But I stop myself because I don’t want the details.
Nothing he says will mend what he broke. Daren could tell me a bomb was strapped to his dick and Trinity was the closest person around to suck it off, and I would still say, Hey, maybe call me first to see if I’m in bomb-dick-sucking range.
“Let me put it simply.” I keep my voice calm despite the roaring grate of my pain machine that’s started up a headache at the base of my skull. “You want to fuck Trinity? Then, go be with Trinity. Look at that. Neat and tidy. All done.” I wipe my hands, symbolically cleaning them of him.
Yes, I’d rather nut-punch him, but I’m restraining myself.
Look who’s being mature now.
“We’re not done,” he insists as I once again attempt to maneuver my cart around him without ramming into the glass of the refrigerator.
Why did I even grab a cart? I can fit all the frozen pizzas I need in a basket, and then I’d be free to dodge my ex.
Maybe I should just leave the cart.
“Talk to me, Robin,” Daren begs. “I don’t want things to go this way.”
That nut-punch is looking more and more appealing.
“Yeah, obviously. You wanted to date me and sleep with Trinity. Meanwhile, I wanted monogamy. This is not a new relationship rule. It’s one I’ve had with all past partners. And it’s one I will have with all future partners.”
Daren scoffs, shaking his head. “Future partners?”
It’s his tone that does it. The utter disbelief.
“Yes,” I snap. “Future partners. People I date post you. Not at the same time because I know the definition of commitment.”
“You seriously think you’re going to go on dates?”
What the fuck?
“Yes,” I grit out. “I do.” Not anytime soon. It’s only been two weeks. But eventually.
“Three months.” Daren props his hands on his hips and stares at me. “I came to that dive bar you worked at for three months before you even agreed to give me your phone number. Then, it took another month for you to agree to a date. I worked for the shot to go out with you.”
I don’t know what his point is. All I know is, I wish he hadn’t wasted both our time.
“Looks like I was right to be cautious. Good job, past me. I’ll try to listen to my instincts better.”
“Exactly.” The man sounds triumphant. “You’ll never give another person a chance. Which is why we should work on us. We have a foundation. Things just got rough somewhere.”
He thinks insulting me is the best way forward? Daren doesn’t know me as well as he believes he does. As well as he should after the two years we were together.
But I guess I didn’t know him either.
“I have a date,” I blurt. “This weekend. He’s taking me to Genie’s on Saturday.”
No.
Oh no.
This was not part of the plan. This is not keeping a cool, calm head.
Daren jerks back as if I hit him, and then he narrows his eyes suspiciously. “With who?”
“Who?” I snap back, buying myself time. “You say that like you think it’s impossible. Like you’re not standing in the middle of the Piggly Wiggly, begging to get me back.”
Daren continues to study me, and I hope I’m not a terrible liar. Unlike him, I don’t have much practice.
“No,” he says slowly. “I know there are plenty of guys who’d want to date you. But I know you don’t want to date any of them. You have a brick wall built between you and all men. So, who in Green Valley managed to vault over your three-month waiting period?” The corner of his lip twitches up in the start of a smile. “You don’t need to make me jealous, babe. I’m already here, saying I want you.”
But I don’t want you!I almost scream back.
What I want is for Daren to feel what I felt when I saw those photos and walked into my living room in the middle of him humping another woman.
I tried to walk away from this, tried to be mature.
But he keeps pushing, and now, the pain machine is out of control, vibrating through my body and demanding I hurt him.
Is lying the way to go about it? Definitely not. But my cool revenge brain is malfunctioning, and I’m racing down this path faster than I can plan.
Think of something!
“He’s taller than you,” I announce.
Shit! I’m digging my hole deeper!
Daren stands at a solid six foot, which means I just narrowed down my fake dating pool.
He scowls. “What does height have to do with anything?”
I notice him stand a touch straighter while asking the question, answering himself.
“You’re right,” I say, voice steadier after the hint of his jealousy. The sweet flavor of revenge on my tongue keeps the words spilling out. “His height is the least of his admirable qualities. He’s also funny and handsome and smart and kind. Really, just an all-around good guy.”
Daren glares down at me, his nostrils flared, his pale cheeks flushed. Then, he turns abruptly, stalking toward the exit.
That’s right, I taunt silently. Run away.
But before he disappears around the corner, Daren calls out to me, “See you Saturday then. I’ll have to swing by Genie’s. Meet this perfect man of yours.”
I don’t respond. Not out loud.
Inside my head, I shout a single, clear word.
Fuck.