“Sorry, y’all. I’ve got so much going on right now. I don’t know how to handleall of that,” I said with a dramatic gesture, “on top of everything else.”
Sam and Desi nodded, twin expressions of understanding.
Right as Desi was about to say something—probably another question—my phone went off.
Given the newness of my business, I held up my finger. “I’m so sorry. I just need to check to see if this is a patient.”
“Handle your work, girl,” Desi said, sipping on his margarita.
Sam joined him as I turned over my phone and . . . well, fuck.
Unknown number: This is Rich.
Unknown number: Are you seriously ignoring me?
I held up my phone. They leaned forward and read the messages.
“Who is this?” Desi asked.
“The asshole.”
Sam gave the screen stank face and said, “Oh my God, what a dick. Like he has any ownership of your time.”
My phone kept going off, so I turned the screen back around to see what he had to say.
Unknown number: This is what I get for stooping so low.
Unknown number: I bought you a car, and you can’t even text me back?
Unknown number: Here’s hoping that cowboy you’re seeing will figure you out before he gets swindled out of a beach house.
“He bitching about all the money he spent on you? Trying to make you feel guilty?” Sam asked before biting into his crab beignet. I handed Desi the phone, and he and Sam put their heads together, reading the shitty texts.
“Rowdy and I jokingly used to call him Daddy Big Bucks.”
“Don’t tell me,” Sam said, wiping his mouth. “Weak dick, weaker knees, and gone in sixty seconds.”
“Nailed it.”
Desi curled his lip, handing me back my phone. “What a fucking douche bag. Please don’t take anything he says seriously.”
I shook my head. “I don’t. At least not anymore.”
It didn’t help, though, that Rich had said exactly the words to make me doubt myself. Such expensive gifts definitely made me feel beholden to him, but I also knew that was a tactic on his part. Even the Porche was just a drop in the bucket to a guy with his net worth; he only gave me nice things so I’d come running whenever he was available.
His strategy worked for a while, but these days I knew myself better. Especially my preference for flowers over diamonds.
“I’ve had to block him a few times. I don’t know why he won’t let it go.”
“He’s treating you like shit so you don’t know your own value, honey,” Sam said. I’m sure he’d dealt with similar dickheads. “You’re meant to feel lucky he didn’t leave you in the gutter, or whatever, so you’ll say yes when you’d rather say no.”
“That’s about the gist of it.”
“I see why this thing with Kit could tie you up in knots,” Desi said, his eyes kind. “You’ve already been through too much to get involved in another push and pull relationship. It’s like I was telling you about Wyatt and me. You know he has feelings for you, but it’s like he can’t give himself permission to lean into them, so he almost unconsciously finds new ways to push you away.”
“That is a scarily accurate observation,” I responded, letting my eyes drift to the other patrons at this restaurant. “Didn’t help, though, being there for probably two of the most stressful moments of his life.”
“I agree. Not optimal.” Desi tapped his short, manicured fingernails on the wooden tabletop. “You do know it’s okay to be done with this whole scenario, right?”
