“Hey.” She’s breathless like she’s excited to see me, but she must be worried. Every time we’re together we argue.
“We need to talk.”
She swallows hard.
“Why don’t we take a seat?” I nod toward the nearby table and chairs.
“What’s this about?” She flutters her eyelashes at me when we’re seated opposite each other.
“I spoke with Dave. Confirmed a few things I suspected. I can’t believe you got up to all these nasty things behind my back.”
“Oh, please,” she snaps. “You didn’t see it because you didn’t want to.”
“That’s not true. I thought you actually gave a shit about my feelings, and I told you specifically that Cassie was off limits. It turns out you did the exact opposite.”
Vicki glares at me.
“I trusted you. And I really thought you were better than that. I guess I never knew you at all.”
She swallows hard. Anger flashes across her face before she flutters her eyelashes at me again. “It really wasn’t that bad. Did Cassie complain?”
The pit of my stomach coils. “No, she didn’t. And I’mtelling you now that I’ll be watching. You don’t go near her. Ever.”
She schools her expression. “So we’re okay?”
“No. God no. We are done. So done.”
Panic flares in her eyes. “We can’t be. Not because of her.”
“It’s not because of her. It’s because ofyou.” I grit my teeth together. “She never did a thing to you. We are over, Vicki. And you only have yourself to blame.”
She reaches for my forearm, but I pull away.
I roll my eyes as she lets out a loud, dramatic sob.
“No, I’m not falling for this. You made your bed. You can lie in it.”
“You’re really throwing us away?” She sniffs.
“You did that.”
Before she can say anything else, I walk out.
“Patrick.”
She runs after me, grabbing at my arm again.
“Go away, Vicki. I can’t even look at you.”
“We had something special, didn’t we?”
I close my eyes and try to push the anger down. “We used to. Or at least, I thought we did. Now I’m not sure I believe any of it.”
She lets me go, and I stroll away.
This time, for good.
3
