Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 50828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
When I open the door, light from inside floods the elegant stoop. Instead of an empty pizza box and a loud video game, I’m greeted by a sexy R-and-B tune drifting from the back of our apartment.
I tiptoe down the hall, toward the bedroom with a frown. The song ends. In the silence before another begins, I hear the shower running.
He finally decided to get clean after two days of BO…
My first clue that something’s wrong is the bra strewn across the threshold of our bedroom. Since all my lingerie is practical, I know the red-lace underwire number isn’t mine. Neither is the accompanying thong next to our bed.
Eric is cheating on me. The realization hits me like an anvil.
I go cold all over. The bottom falls out of my stomach.
God, is this really happening?
Our mussed bed and the discarded condom wrapper on my nightstand tell me it is.
Holy cow. Holy. Cow.
He is cheating on me. That bastard!
“Oh, fuck, yeah, babe…” Eric moans.
Babe. That’s what he calls me, too.
Why does that make the betrayal somehow worse?
“That’s it. Use that tongue to get my cock nice and clean so I can get it all dirty in your pussy again.”
“You’re sure we’ll have time?” a woman asks.
“Yeah. Izzy will be at this boring-as-fuck party until at least ten.”
She laughs. “Do you think she has any idea?”
“Nah. I’ve got her fooled. I even photoshopped myself into a pic all the guys took last weekend in Orlando. She’s too gullible to figure it out.”
No, I’m too trusting. I knew something was off.
God, I feel as if Eric slapped me. I’m humiliated. Embarrassed. Furious.
And I’m done.
I stomp over to the shower curtain and yank it wide, stepping back to avoid the spray, and take in the sight of my boyfriend standing with his back to the water and our neighbor on her knees with his softening dick in her mouth. “No need for her to rush out. I won’t be coming home tonight. Or ever. It’s over, Eric.”
He pushes back from the brunette with mascara running down her face and darts out of the shower after me.
I step over the skank’s underwear and sprint down the hall, only to find Eric chasing me as he wraps a towel around his naked ass. “C’mon, babe. Wait. We should… Fuck, I don’t know. Talk about this.”
“Talk?” I toss over my shoulder without slowing down. “What is there to say? You’d rather sleep with Marcella—”
“Mariah,” he corrects.
I know. “I don’t care.”
Out the front door, I rush down the stairs and head for my car.
He follows. “Fuck, would you just come back inside? It’s freezing.” He shivers, ignoring the side-eye from a guy walking his dog. “You can’t just leave.”
“I can. I am. I’ll get my things later.”
And the fact I’m not devastated should tell me something. Right now, I’m too mad to figure it out.
“If you get in that car and drive away, don’t expect to come back.”
“I wasn’t planning on it. You and Marina deserve each other.”
“Mariah.”
“I still don’t care.” I turn to face him. He’s stomping his foot like an agitated kid who isn’t getting his way. “Someday, I hope she cheats on you so you can see exactly how this feels.”
“Ah, come on. What she and I did…it didn’t mean anything.”
“If you think that, then you and I didn’t mean anything, either. Jen was right—”
“That bitch fills your head with stupid ideas.”
“Well, she told me I could do better, and I should have listened sooner. Know what else she told me? To go out tonight, have fun, and let some hot stranger blow my doors off since you never have. This time, I plan to take her advice. The next back I dig my nails into won’t be yours. Buh-bye.”
It isn’t until I get in my car that I realize I forgot both my coat and my mother’s pendent, but I can’t go back now… In fact, other than to pack up, I can’t come back ever.
Where the hell will I sleep tonight? I can’t crash at that McMansion my dad listed as his address. Even if I had a key and wouldn’t have to break in again, he’s clearly shacking up with a woman. Maybe it’s her house. Maybe she doesn’t even know about me.
And maybe Dad stopped giving a shit about you.
I reach for my cell to call Jen. Then I remember she has an extra-spicy Tinder hookup tonight. Damn it. Fine. I’ll figure out where to sleep. There are plenty of hotels near the office. What’s one more charge on my overtaxed credit card? Tomorrow, I’ll find a long-term solution.
Tonight, I intend to take advantage of Force Financial’s open bar, meet some single men, and find one who will make me damn glad I’m a woman.
CHAPTER TWO
The party is in full swing by the time I arrive. During my drive, I realize two things: First, other than the luxurious apartment Eric can afford, living with him wasn’t all I hoped it would be. Second, I’m furious that he lied to me. I’m incensed that he played me and embarrassed me. I’m mad at myself for wasting so much time on him. But I’m not as upset to lose him as I feared I would be.