He shook his head as he looked out the glass doors that showed the street. “I don’t know what to do. Most of the time, exes just can’t be friends, and I think Kat and I are an example of those kinds of exes. Losing her friendship permanently is a bit sad, but if she feels as strongly as she does…maybe it is best if we go our separate ways. I want her to find someone she really loves and be happy. But I really don’t want Carson to lose her too. It wasn’t her fault.”
I thought Carson got the short stick in this cruel game. No matter what she did, she had her loyalty pulled in three different directions, every single person expecting something from her. Of course she couldn’t live up to everyone’s assumptions. She was a victim of a problem that was bigger than herself.
“And now Kat isn’t seeing Nathan anymore… That’s not a good sign.”
“No.”
He brought his beer to his lips. “We’re all fucked.” He took a drink. “How can I go after Denise when I’m in such a bad mood? I’ve wanted this for so long, and now it doesn’t feel right.”
“Because you feel guilty about Kat?”
“I guess I feel guilty about everything…” Charlie looked past me to the TV behind me. “I wish I had just stayed committed to Kat. Honestly, we were really happy. I wish Denise didn’t affect me the way she does. My life would be far less complicated if that had never happened.”
“Yeah, life can be cruel sometimes.”
“You’re telling me.”
I didn’t see Charlie as just Carson’s friend, but my friend as well, and as years went by, I hoped we would become closer. That made me want to help him as much as I could. “What if you talked to Kat yourself?”
His eyes came back to me.
“You probably can’t smooth over your problems with her, but maybe you can fix the situation between Kat and Carson. That’s all you really care about, right?”
He nodded. “I just have a feeling she never wants to see me again.”
Finding out most of your relationship was a complete lie would make anyone pull away.
“If I do that, I still need to wait a while. Let her cool off for a bit.”
“Yeah, maybe you should.”
He finished the last of his beer then glanced at the bar like he might order another, but something changed his mind. He left the empty bottle on the table. “Carson is finally happy with you, and I’m overshadowing it with my drama. I’ve wanted her to feel better for a long time now, and it finally happens, and then this shit goes down…”
“It’ll get better.” Carson hadn’t been the same since all of this happened, and I missed the way it was the first weekend we’d had together in my penthouse. It was a dream, having her beside me all night, watching her want to stay with me instead of darting for the door right after sex or first thing in the morning. It was what I’d wanted since the beginning, to really be with her, to be happy.
“Yeah… I hope so.”
“And she and I have the rest of our lives, so if it takes a while for this to resolve, that’s fine.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at me. “The rest of our lives? Look, don’t get ahead of yourself like last time. Don’t push anything too heavy. Just live in the moment with her and let her steer the ship.”
My eyes narrowed. “She and I are in the same place, man.” When I’d said those three little words to her, I was taking a huge risk. I knew it was more likely that it would scare her off instead of bring her closer, but she accepted those words with tears…and said them back. So I didn’t know why Charlie had any doubts that Carson was ready to be in this relationship completely.
“She said that?” he asked incredulously.
My eyebrows rose in surprise because it seemed like he had no idea the feelings we had exchanged. I hadn’t said it again and neither had she, but I suspected we would be one of those couples that only said it once in a while, not every time we got off the phone or departed from a room. She told him everything, but he seemed to have no idea about this. “I told her I loved her…she said it back.”
His eyes snapped wide open like he couldn’t believe the news. “Really? Carson?” Then his eyes narrowed in suspicion, and he rubbed his palm across his jawline. “That really happened?”
“Why would I lie about something like that?”
“I don’t know. You lied about being a billionaire, so…”
I released a quiet chuckle because I would never live that down. “Yes. It happened the night we left the bar. She came over…and I told her.” I wouldn’t give him all the details because the intimacy was just for me. “She said it back. Rest is history.”
Charlie was speechless now.
“She didn’t tell you.” For someone like Carson, who confided everything in this person, I was surprised she hadn’t shared such a big moment with him.
He shook his head.
Maybe she thought it was just for us. Maybe we were so special she didn’t want to share us with anyone else. I decided not to jump to conclusions and take it as a compliment.
“Well, I’m really happy for both of you. I mean, I never thought Carson would get to this place, and it makes me happy that she has. Maybe someday, it can be the four of us…”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
6
Dax
I’d become indifferent to Rose. I didn’t spend my free time thinking about her. I never looked back and reflected on the relationship, second-guessing my decisions and mourning my mistakes. I made my peace with it and moved forward.
But whenever we were in the same room together…I hated her.
I really hated her.
I walked into the conference room and saw her sitting there with her lawyer at her side. Her blond hair was in soft curls over one shoulder, and she wore designer clothing she didn’t pay for. She even had a level of pretentiousness she didn’t earn, snobby like some trust-fund baby, when her beginnings were humble.
I was the one who gave her everything.
Without me, she’d be nothing.
Before we married, she was a regular person, working at a coffee shop for minimum wage.
When I’d asked her out, she took advantage of the opportunity—and ran with it.
Even if I could prove in a court of law that our entire relationship was a sham because she was an opportunistic parasite, it wouldn’t change anything.
I didn’t get that fucking prenup.
I took a seat across from her, beside Renee, along with a few other executives who worked at the company. We were going over quarterly figures.
That was why Rose was there.
She wanted to know what her paycheck was.
Splitting my income with her wasn’t the worst part. Letting her take a piece of my family’s legacy…that was what hurt.
We handed out the files and went over the numbers, business as usual.
I barely looked at her.
Whenever her stupid voice entered the conversation, I focused on the one thing that could calm me down.
Carson.
“It looks like you’re spending a lot of money on research, doubling your budget from last month.” Rose looked over the paperwork, acting like an executive even though she had no business experience at all. “I’m not sure if I approve of that.”