"Maria?" He scrunched his face. "Meh. I cut that bitch loose a couple of months ago."
James replied back, but I stopped listening. My stomach felt like it was on a prolonged drop. Did he just say...? He couldn't have said...? He couldn't be talking aboutmyMaria?
"Maria?" my throat rasped.
Logan tilted his head at me. "Yeah, you know her?"
My throat was closed off, so I made an ambiguous head movement.
James shook his head as he shoved his cousin playfully. "You should see her, Brian. Dark hair, blue eyes. Body like a goddess. She's a total smokeshow."
"And totally crazy," Logan scoffed. "But all the hot ones are. Part of the trade-off."
"Trade-off?" Harry asked.
Logan grinned, and I wanted to punch that stupid toothy smile off his face. "Yeah, the hotter they are and the wilder in bed—the crazier they are." He imparted this like he was a fucking guru spelling out the hidden mysteries of women.
But was this aboutmywoman? I couldn't fathom he was talking about Maria. But how many dark-haired, blue-eyed women named Maria lived around here? I had to know if it was her.
"What does she do?" I held my breath.
Logan peered at me curiously. I kept my expression bland, not wanting to give anything away.
"She works at a hairdresser. Probably sweeping floors or some shit," he laughed.
I immediately picked my drink up and took a long swallow. The cold did nothing to soothe the raging furnace in my body.
"What was crazy about her?" James continued. "I reckon I could look past all that for a piece of her." I glared at him. If I weren't so sure it was illegal, I would fire him on the spot for being an ass.
Logan shrugged as he picked up his new glass. "She was all clingy and constantly blowing up my phone. I ended up ghosting and blocking her in the end. A shame, really. She was a good lay. Up for anything, if you know what I mean." He wiggled his brows.
My hand tightened on my glass as a red haze continued to burn down. The thought of Maria naked with this fucking douchebag had me wanting to flip a table.Thisdouche got to see her naked? Got to kiss her intimately?Thisfucking cretin got to know what it felt like to be inside her? The thought fucking wrecked me. But then my anger shifted as a realization occurred.
Maria fucking played me.
"Was she your girlfriend or just a fuck buddy?" I wanted to cringe at my coarseness, but I pushed it aside when I thought of how torn up I'd been over my treatment of Maria.
"Girlfriend? Fuck, no. She was a one-night stand that lasted way too long."
"Hey, c'mon," James inputted, clearly uncomfortable. "She was a nice girl the few times I met her."
"You didn't know the real her." He whistled as he twirled his forefinger around his temple.
The conversation swiftly moved on from there, but I stayed seething. Evidently, I didn't know the real Maria either.
It was only a few weeks ago Maria told me she was celibate, that she only planned on sleeping with someone if it was serious. She was so sincere, too. Yet it was only a few months ago that she clearly had no problem being fuckingwildin bed for a dick head like Logan. A one-night stand, he’d said.
And here I was, feeling like a fucking tool for offering something that I thought was beneath her. She made me feel like shit for something she gave away for free. To fuckingLogan, of all people.
What game had she been playing? Why had she lied to me? Did she expect me to be so dazzled by her beauty that I'd cave and offer her exclusivity for the pleasure of her body?
I thought of Logan's words regarding her craziness. Admittedly, I didn't garner any clinginess from her. I remembered wanting her to bemoreclingy. Was that a tactic she used? Playing hard to get, so I'd take any crumb from her?
I clearly dodged a bullet and was glad I didn't stick around to find out. To think I was feeling like shit over losing her when she’d probably already moved on to her next target. I thought of the provocative clothes she'd been wearing lately, and my thoughts darkened.
My eye caught the bartender's sultry gaze again, and this time, I returned her teasing smile.
I decided not to waste another moment thinking about Maria
