Page 111 of Ruin

“No.” Kinda. I brace myself, spine straightened, arms by my sides. “I came to tell you that I don’t want to see you anymore. Of course, I would never stop you from seeing Gigi. But I can’t be around you anymore. It’s not good for me. You’re not good for me. So, we need to figure something out regarding Gigi, whether it be Aunt Elle is there when you collect her or…I don’t know. But we need to figure out something because I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“Says the woman standing on my doorstep.”

“I came to tell you this.” I frown.

“You could have called me.”

True.

“Yeah, well, I’m not you. I don’t do my dumping over the phone.”

It’s his turn to frown. “I didn’t know we were together for you to dump me.”

“Look”—I hold a hand up, stopping us before we start—“I didn’t come here to verbally spar with you. I just came to tell you that we need to make other arrangements, so I don’t have to see you every day.”

I hear the chatter of people nearby, and I glance over my shoulder, but I don’t see anybody.

“Come inside,” Zeus tells me.

I don’t argue because I don’t want our business to be public knowledge.

I walk into his living room and stop by a wooden cabinet that has some of his boxing trophies on it. I turn around to face Zeus, who’s standing across the room from me. I lean my ass against the cabinet and wrap my arms over my chest.

“So, what do you say?” I ask.

“No.” He folds his arms over his huge chest, mirroring me.

“No?” I echo.

“That’s not going to work for me,” he says.

“What?” I blink.

He drops his arms and walks closer to me, lids lowering over his darkening eyes. “I said, that’s not going to work for me.”

“Well, this isn’t about you and what works for you!” I throw my arms up in the air. “It’s about me! And I thought you’d be happy that we wouldn’t have to see each other. You’ve been ignoring me since Disney World.”

“I didn’t handle it well. I was hurt. And I guess I thought that maybe, if I cold-shouldered you for a few days, it might make you realize a few things.”

“Like?”

“Like…you still love me. That you want to be with me.”

I realized that days ago. That’s not the problem.

“You were playing games?”

He shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “Fighting for you, Dove.”

“Yeah, well, why don’t you save your energy and stop fighting for me and go see Mindi, your perky tennis player? You won’t have to fight at all for her, if her text was anything to go by.”

Fucking fuck. Me and my big mouth.

“You read my text?” He doesn’t seem angry. More like amused.

And that annoys the hell out of me.

“I saw it by accident.”