“Kat? Babe? What the…”
“Who’s Kat?” An unfamiliar and most definitely female voice asks in the background.
“I…I can’t believe this,” I start, brokenly. “You’re having sex with someone else. You’re cheating on me.”
This isn’t happening.Thiscan’t be real.But it is.
“Kat, it isn’t what it looks like.” Tyson climbs out of bed, which was a big mistake, seeing as his clumsy movements give me a full-frontal view of his condom-covered dick and the messed-up sheets in the background where I assume Carlie waits.
“At least you’re using protection,” I say bitingly. “I guess it’s been so long sincewehad sex I hopefully don’t need to worry about disease.”
“Kat, no.”
“Just stop.” I hold up my hand, barely fighting back the tears. “We’re done. I hope you andCarlieare very happy.” I don’t hide the sarcasm or the pain dripping from my voice as I hang up the call.
My phone instantly starts ringing again, and I hit ignore. It happens again; I ignore it again. Finally, after the third attempt of my cheating asshole of an ex trying to get through to me, I turn my phone off completely.
Chugging back the rest of my glass of wine, I pause a minute and take stock of how I’m feeling.
Hurt, yes. But more than that, embarrassed.
I never thought once that Tyson would cheat. Maybe that was naïve of me, given the distance between us and the time between our visits. Maybe it was inevitable that he’d wander, needing attention from someone else. But I foolishly didn’t think it would ever happen to me.
After all, he’s the one who pursued me. He’s the one who desperately begged me to try long-distance when he had to move. He said he loved me, and I said it back. The first time I’d ever said it to someone outside of my family.
My heart is broken; my confidence is shattered.
If this is what love feels like, I don’t want it.
Chapter two
Hunter
I set the weights back on the rack, relishing the tremors in my biceps. There’s not much that feels better to me than a great workout.Wow, Callaghan, that’s cheesy as fuck.Yep, but also true. Ever since my years on the high school football team, and the hours spent in a dingy basement gym that smelled like Satan’s dirty underwear working out with my teammates, I’ve loved the feeling of pushing my body to the extreme.
The gym is where I work out not just my body, but my mind. It clears the cobwebs, calms the anxiety beast, focuses my thoughts, and helps me tackle the day in a way better headspace. It’s also one of the few places where I know I’m on a level playing field with everyone around me. It doesn’t take brains to work out, just brawn. And I’ve got plenty of that.
But lately, the one thing a good gym session hasnotdone is burn off any of the pent-up energy that’s constantly inside of me.
Energy that has been slowly building for over a year now. Ever since I moved in next door to Kat Donnelly.
Yeah, I’m talking aboutthat kindof energy.
It doesn’t matter how fast I run or how heavy I lift; I can’t escape my never-ending fantasies of that dark-haired beauty. Her green eyes hold me captive every time I see her, and her smile is imprinted on my mind so firmly, I see it when I close my eyes.
Then again, it’s more than just her looks that make her attractive. There’s something about her that puts me at ease in an instant whenever she’s near. With just one smile, I somehow always feel better about everything in my life. Better aboutmyself.She probably has no clue, hell, I don’t even know how she does it, but Kat is magic to me. A miracle. But one I know I’ll always only get to look at and never have.
The day I moved in, I was struck by her beauty and personality. I wanted to ask her out so fucking badly, but I was a chickenshit and didn’t do it right away. It was several months before I managed to work up the courage to decide to ask her out. I wasted that time trying not to make a fool of myself when I’d see her at home, or worse, in front of other people at the café where she worked. Then, the day before I was going to make my move, some preppy guy in a Tesla pulled into her driveway. Watching them greet each other made it clear to me she was off the market.
That effectively put the nail in the coffin that hides my feelings for Kat Donnelly.
“Hey bro, you about done with the thirties?”
I snap out of thoughts of Kat at the sound of Sawyer Donnelly’s voice.
He’s got even more muscles than I do, and he’s a hotshot firefighter. Andnotthe kind of guy who would appreciate me fantasizing about his little sister.
“Uh, yeah, go ahead.” I step away from the weight bench, grabbing my towel and water bottle as I make my way over to the treadmill. Sawyer would fucking kill me if he knew what I was thinking about, so a little distance between us just makes sense.
