Page 84 of Ruin

“So, what exactly did he say?”

“Well…he said…”

“You told Rich that he was standing in the way of my happiness?” I yell the second Zeus opens his front door.

“Hello to you, too, Cam.”

“Don’t be smart right now. I’m not in the mood.”

“Clearly.”

“I’m so fucking mad at you.”

“I’m getting that.” He widens the door, standing aside. “Would you like to come in and be mad at me or stay out there while you yell at me?”

“You’re an asshole.” I narrow my eyes and stomp past him, stopping just inside.

He closes the door. “Where’s Gigi?” he asks.

I give him a less than amused look. “With Aunt Elle. What the hell did you think you were doing, turning up at Rich’s house like that?”

“Fighting for my family. Fighting for you.”

Well, hell.

“I just didn’t expect him to go crying to you.”

“He didn’t come crying to me. I had to force it out of him.”

“You can do better than that guy, Dove. He’s got no backbone.”

“Better like you, you mean?”

“Well, if you’re asking…”

“Been there before. Didn’t work out so well for me the last time. And, for your information, I’m not even seeing Rich anymore. I haven’t been since you came back. He’s just a friend.”

“Sure he is, Cam. So, you accidentally bumped into each other yesterday and decided to go for coffee?”

“Yes! You big jerk! And, if you’d bothered to stay and talk to me last night, then you would have heard me telling you that I’d popped out of work to grab a coffee and bumped into Rich coming out of the station after his shift. We talked briefly. I said I had to go grab my coffee. He said he wanted one—”

“I bet he did.”

I glare at him. “He said he wanted coffee, too. So, we walked the few minutes to the coffee shop where I bumped into you and Gigi.”

“And that was it?”

“Yes, that was it. We got our coffees. I went back to work, and he went wherever he went—home presumably.”

He’s staring at me like he’s trying to read my thoughts. Then, he sighs and scrubs his hands over his face.

“Just seeing you with him after the other night…it blindsided me. It fucking hurt, Dove.”

“Zeus…the other night…it was a mistake.”

“No, the only mistake I ever made was walking away from you.”

“I told you to go.”