Clenching my fists, I want to scream as unshed tears sting at my eyes. “You still don’t get it! I’m a mother. My feelings don’t matter right now. Not when my daughter’s hurt, and you kept telling me to let my guard down. This is exactly why I don’t. Not only didIlose you, but Bernie lost one of the only people she believed was her friend.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I’m an idiot. I’m the girl who knew better than to fall in love with a guy like you. I never should have allowed her to spend time with you. It was a lapse in judgment I won’t make again.”
“A guy like me?”
Turning, I wipe my eyes to keep him from seeing me cry. I won’t give him that satisfaction, and when I face him again, I jut out my chin. “A guy who wants a woman who treats him like trash. A guy who doesn’t see something special when it stands right in front of him. A guy who makes a little girl cry after she made him cupcakes. A guy I thought was different, but I was wrong.”
“No, you weren’t—”
Even as the tears gloss my vision, I force a smile. “Yeah, I really fucking was. I knew I should’ve trusted my gut. I really hopeyou got what you needed because I doubt your girlfriend will do what I did last night.”
If the neighbors hear, I don’t care. Let them think what they want. I was dating a biker, so I figure they’ve already made all sorts of assumptions about me.
“Please, it’s not what you think—”
“You’ll think of me when you’re with her. When she can’t give you what I did. But don’t even think about knocking on my door when it happens. Don’t talk to me. Don’t talk to Bernie. We’re nothing but neighbors who don’t even wave at each other.”
He’s no different from any other man, and I was a fool to believe he was.
Turning, I hurry across the street and inside to find Bernie. The guilt of putting her through this weighs heavily on me, and I wish I’d thought harder about this. Made better decisions.
Mostly, I just wish I hadn’t fallen in love with Zeppelin Molloy.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Zeppelin
Wow, I really screwed things up. Watching Misty walk away after saying I was nothing but a mistake hurt more than I thought words could. But worse than that is the image of Bernie running away in tears after she dumped cupcakes on the ground at my feet.
Cupcakes the two ladies I’ve come to love more than just about anything made to make me feel better. They both thought of me, and I let Chanel fuck with me. Again.
Misty took care of me like no one else ever has. And she’s right. I do think of her. Every fucking minute of every day. I don’t need to be with Chanel for it to happen.
I walk into the Seven Crows and sit at the bar. I’d made sure Bernie made it safely inside before I left, mostly because she refuses to talk to me. When she gets to her house, she hurries inside and doesn’t even look at me.
“You must really be in the doghouse,” Nancy says and sets a beer in front of me.
I sigh and just stare at it. “It’s more than that, Nan. I’m fucked. And not in a good way.”
“She’ll come around. Everyone knows that girl’s in love with you. It’s obvious in the way she looks at you.”
“I’m an idiot. I’m the girl who knew better than to fall in love with a guy like you.”
Holy shit. Misty admitted she fell in love with me, and I was too focused on trying to defend myself to catch it. Everyone else knew, but I never told her how I felt. If I said it, maybe we’d at least be talking right now.
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
“Chanel kissed me when she knew Misty was right there to see.”
“She still in town?”
I smirk. “Why?”
Picking up a bottle of whiskey with thick glass off the shelf by the neck, she tests out the weight. “Just to talk.”
“Yeah. Talk. I bet.”
