I don’t want to listen to him lie to me or give some excuse about why he bought my sister a freaking house.
Get yourself together.I wipe my eyes.You’re supposed to be the ruthless businesswoman.
Fitz is just one more chore on my to-do list.
I never should have trusted that he had my back.
I broke my own rules.
Wrapping myself in the terry-cloth bathrobe, I pull the sheets off the bed and collect the empty wine bottles and pizza boxes.
I’m done. I’m done with men. If Fitz wants to buy Kathy a house, let him. It gets my family out of my hair, finally. And I’m alone again, finally.
Just how I like it.
Without the background noise of my parents, the house feels oddly empty.
I can hear the water dripping in the kitchen from the dishes piled in the sink.
I stack them in the dishwasher and set it to run.
Then wander through my blessedly empty house.
I hear the front door open, and Fidget woofs happily.
“Mom,” I call, weirdly a little happy that my family’s back. “How does the house look? When are you thinking of moving out? Are you going to do any reno—oh.”
“Winnie!” Fitz spreads his arms wide. One hand holds a huge bouquet of flowers.
“Are you kidding me?” I hiss at him, summoning anger so I don’t have to cry in front of him. “You can’t just barge into my house.”
“Okay.” He seems taken aback. “You seem extra prickly today. I thought you’d be a little nicer.”
The anger pulses behind my eyeballs. “You thought I should be nicer to you? Should just suck up to you like all the other women in your life? Guess what? They’re just nice to you because they want something. I don’t need anything from you.”
“Oh, you don’t?” he scoffs. “Then how come the only reason your parents aren’t tearing up your house right now is because of me? How come the only reason you’re notkidnapped by the freakshow stalking you is because of me? You do need me. And I need you.” He tries to hug me.
But I’m not falling for it. I’m not stupid. “I know you were out with Kathy.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Not even going to deny it?”
He shrugs.
It makes me furious.
“Is that what this is about? You jealous of Kathy? Guess I really overestimated you. I’m not even going to bother explaining what I was doing with her. You clearly just want to start a fight. I’ll leave you alone until you calm down.”
“Condescending asshole.”
“What, did you want me to propose marriage to you?”
“No, of course not,” I scoff, because no way am I going to admit that yeah, I did kind of want him to want to marry me. “I just expect a little commitment. God, I can’t believe I thought—whatever.” I straighten up. “Never mind. You’re so self-absorbed.”
“This is about Knox, isn’t it?” he snarls, throwing the flowers on the floor. “You’re still in love with him.”
“The fuck I am!”
