Zach shifted his gaze to me, his eyes victorious. “Ready?”
I gave a curt nod. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
Zach sat across from me at dinner, telling me about his day, drinking his wine, acting like nothing had happened. He was his same cheerful self, even pulling out my panties to use as a napkin to wipe away the drop of wine on the corner of his mouth.
I was quiet most of the time, unable to put on the same display.
Zach eventually addressed it. “So that’s the guy who broke your heart, huh?”
I’d told Zach I’d fallen pretty hard for someone, but they dumped me and I was pretty heartbroken about it. I didn’t go into details, and he didn’t ask. The reason why I’d told him was because I didn’t want to be deceitful in any way. Even if this was just casual, he deserved my transparency. “Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Because it was pretty obvious.” He took a drink of his wine before he grabbed his fork and stabbed a stalk of asparagus and popped it into his mouth. “I’ve always liked Dex. Had no idea he was an idiot.”
“He’s not an idiot. He just… It didn’t work out.”
“Whatever. His mistake worked out in my favor, so…” He took another drink of his wine.
“He’s my boss, and I see him every day…is that a problem?”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t bother me that you’re still in love with him either.”
He put me right on the spot, but I didn’t deny it.
There was no reaction to my silent admission. “Because I’ll make you forget about him eventually.”
“I thought this was casual.”
“It is. I just mean, sometimes you have to get under someone to get over someone. What happened between you guys anyway?”
I stared at my glass of wine as I considered my answer. I didn’t want to share Dex’s private information with anyone, but since Zach and I were seeing each other, I felt like it was unavoidable. “He got divorced just over a year ago, and it’s basically too soon for him to have anything serious. We decided to try to be together a couple weeks ago, but he found out his ex-wife is already getting remarried, and he just…realized he wasn’t ready.”
“Fuck, that’s rough.”
“Yeah, he deserves better. I wish he would forget about her, not for my own self-interest, but because he deserves to be happy. He’s honestly the best guy I know, and he should be with a woman who thinks he’s the best guy too. Someone who appreciates him. Someone who’s not going to throw him away for something stupid.”
Zach didn’t ask for the specifics and let it go. “That’s ironic.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because you’re the best woman I know, and he didn’t appreciate you and threw you away.” He gave a slight shrug before he grabbed his glass again. “You’d think someone who’s been through that himself wouldn’t repeat history, but I guess not.”
Five
Dex
“What do you mean, you don’t know if you should say something?” Daisy sat across from me at the dining table in my apartment, eating a slice of pizza and washing it down with a beer. “Is this a joke?”
It had been like being punched in the stomach and the balls at the same time. Air left my body when I saw them together, when I saw that handsome billionaire wrap his arm around her waist, intentionally claiming her.
It was so fucking intentional.
Everything I wanted to say had left my brain. The English language left me.
“Dex?” Daisy pressed. “Why wouldn’t you tell her?”
“I didn’t know she was seeing anybody. Blindsided…”
“You think a hot woman like that stays single for long? No, Dex. Men will line up around the block for an opportunity to be with her. You just expected her to sit there and pout in her misery?”
“No—”
“Let me give you some enlightenment. A woman worth waiting for doesn’t wait for anybody.”
“I understand that—”
“She did the right thing by moving on, and Zach is super hot—”
“Jesus, can I talk?”
Her eyes narrowed viciously before she opened her mouth and took a deliberate bite of her pizza.
“She has every right to move on with somebody else. That’s not my issue. I just… I’m not sure if it would be right to say anything to her when she’s clearly moved on, or is trying to. It feels like a dick move. I already did it once with Dom, and I’m not sure if I can do it again. I had my chance with her, and I blew it…”
She continued to eat her pizza, chewing in silence.
I waited for my sister to say something, replaying that moment of Sicily and Zach in my head. He was handsome, charming, rich…that was all I knew about him. I could tell Sicily was uncomfortable by the entire thing too, but I knew she wasn’t in agony the way I was.
It was like a dagger in each of my lungs, taking away my ability to draw a single breath ever again.
Daisy grabbed another slice.
“Are you going to say anything?”
“Oh, now you want me to talk?” She took another bite, taking her time chewing just to be obnoxious. “You only ended things a couple weeks ago, so it’s not like she’s serious with this guy. I honestly think she’d want to know that you turned down that stupid cunt—”
“Daisy, don’t talk about her like that.” Even if Catherine deserved it, it didn’t sit right with me. I would always be angry with her for what she’d done, but I didn’t think she deserved to be spoken about in that way. “I’m serious.”
She rolled her eyes. “As I was saying…I think Sicily would want to know. This guy is probably just a rebound. The way she feels about you…that’s real. You’re the Louis Vuitton purse, and everything else is a knock-off.”
“Did you just compare me to a purse?”
“It’s just an analogy, alright? Talk to her.” She took another bite of her pizza. “In other news, we’re going to do that dinner on Saturday in a few weeks.”
“What dinner?”
She gave me an irritated look. “Where I introduce Mason to Mom and Dad.”
Fuck, that was still happening? “Mason agreed?”
“Yes.”
“So, what did Dad say?”
“I told Mom and let her do the dirty work.”
That was probably smart.
“It’ll be the five of us. And we’re going to Dad’s favorite place, so he’ll have something to look forward to.”
“Alright, let’s hope for the best.”
It was awkward the next day.
More awkward than the day after I broke things off.
More awkward than pretty much any other moment of my life.
I was at the research facility, and when I arrived, my breakfast was there on time. She was also there, having my schedule and other information to share with me. The weather had improved, so she wore dresses with short sleeves and heels instead of boots, and her skin was as beautiful as I remembered.