Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“Did you set her straight?” I crossed my arms. “You told her there’s absolutely nothing going on between us?”
“I ended things with her, actually.” He looked down at his shoes. “Not that there was much to end, because I thought we’d had an understanding about not being in a relationship, but apparently that wasn’t clear enough to her.”
A wave of relief hit me. “So that’s why you were gone so long? You were breaking up with her this whole time?”
“You can’t break up with someone you’re not with. But yes, I was ending our limited relationship.”
“How did she take it?”
“She wasn’t happy, but she accepted it. I think she realizes she’s better off. I’m relieved because she deserves to find someone who can give her the time and attention she needs. It was never anything more than…” He hesitated, seeming to catch himself.
“Yeah…” I rolled my eyes, feeling sick. “Say no more.”
He exhaled. “But then after she left, as luck would have it, my sister walked into the bar and reamed me a new asshole for not telling her I was in town. You know Tina. She wouldn’t let me go. So that’s why I’m late.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Tina. I’d always loved her and her kids. For a long time, I’d looked at Tina like a sister, and her daughter, Kenzie, as my own niece.
“How is she?”
“She’s okay.”
“You should’ve told her you were in town from the beginning. Not sure how you thought you were gonna be able to get away with that. Someone was bound to find you.”
He shrugged. “I wanted to be able to focus on Mimi. If my family knew I was here, they wouldn’t leave me alone. There’s plenty of time to see them after Mimi’s aide comes back.”
“So…you’re gonna stay in town for a while after this is over?”
“For a little while. I’m not totally sure. Eventually I have to get back to L.A. so we can start recording. I won’t have an opportunity to come home for a while after that, either, because we’ll go on tour.”
“I see.” I bit my bottom lip.
“What’s that look for?”
“Nothing…”
“As soon as I mentioned the tour, your face changed.”
He was right. Just the word tour triggered me. It brought visions of Atticus doing God knows what with God knows who. Atticus had been with a lot of women since me, and there wasn’t one time I’d thought about that and not felt sick. But even before that lifestyle became a reality for him, my fear of it contributed to our end.
“You ended things with Riley so you don’t have to feel guilty for screwing around on tour anymore?” I blurted.
His expression went from concern to anger. “Yeah, Nicole. That’s exactly it,” he snapped.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, attempting to backtrack.
“No, by all means. It’s the truth, right? I’m nothing but an out-of-control manwhore without a soul. That’s how you see me.” He walked toward me, causing my blood to pump faster. “Well, I’ve got news for you.” He paused. “I became the very man you feared I would. But I was never that person when we were together. Not even close. But after you ended things for good, I had to turn to other people to try to get over you. It wasn’t going to be alcohol or drugs, so it was women. When you started dating Julian, I needed to forget reality.” He paused for a moment, gritting his teeth. “And no…ending things with Riley had nothing to do with needing more freedom to fuck around. Sadly, she was always aware of my activities on tour and didn’t seem to care so long as I hung out with her when I came back to L.A. She didn’t seem to care about anything—until she saw me photographed with you.”
I wouldn’t look at him. “Well, she had nothing to worry about there, did she?”
He inched closer, and now I could feel his breath on my face. “If you’re implying that I no longer have feelings for you, you’re mistaken. And you’re forgetting that I’m not the one of us in a committed relationship.” He tilted his head. “How is Julian, by the way? We haven’t talked about him much. But since you seem to think I’m the insensitive prick here, we might as well talk about how he took advantage of our pain and made it his prize.”
My stomach dropped at the mention of Julian. I’d known exactly what I was doing when I let Atticus’s former friend into my life, let him help me heal from the pain of my divorce. I’d known Atticus would be devastated when he found out. Yet I’d allowed it anyway, hoping that would cancel my own devastation over what had finally ended us for good. It was something I’d always regret. It had been a mistake.