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The way he looks at me sends a rush of insecurity through me. Does he already want me gone? Matt always told me I talk too much. I purse my lips together and lift my coffee in goodbye and hightail it to my car, exhaling hard once I finally settle into the driver’s seat.

These guys probably think I’m a disaster.

Shaking off the negative thoughts before they consume me, I blast angsty music from my teen years and zip into town, heading to the house I used to call home. There are open boxes sitting on the porch when I arrive. The guys I hired to help me put everything in a storage unit are already getting to work. A frown digs into my skin as I take it in. The rest of my clothes, decorations, linens. My furniture is still inside though.

Here comes the hard part.

I take a fortifying breath and march up to the front door. The doorbell echoes inside. I count to ten before Matt appears with a half-dressed woman clinging to his side. Some tourist, since it’s no one I recognize, and given the way she looks at me, she’s about ready to piss on his leg to show he’s hers.

Have at him, sweetheart.

“What do you want?” Matt’s voice drips with irritation, like I’m some door-to-door solicitor interrupting his morning fuck.

“My stuff.” I gesture toward the pathetic collection of boxes on the porch. “I need my furniture.”

“What are you talking about?” He wraps his arm tighter around the blonde. “That’s everything right there.”

“Bullshit. Where’s the bed from the guest room? The dresser? My TV? The dining table and chairs?” My voice climbs an octave with each item I list.

“Those are mine.” He gives me a look that borders on evil. “You can’t come in here and trespass unless you want me to call the cops.”

The woman runs her perfectly manicured hands over his abs, and he dips his head to kiss her. Hard and passionate and completely for my benefit. I’m not jealous, though I am offended. The cruelty of it, throwing this in my face so soon after our breakup, proves what I already knew. He never cared about me. Not really.

Matt breaks the kiss and gives me a look like I’m something gross he scraped off his shoe. “You should go before the town starts talking.” He tips his chin toward the street.

I follow his line of sight and spot a local from the next street over, stopped in the middle of the road, gawking at us through her car window like we’re the morning’s entertainment.

Defeat is a lead blanket draped over me. I’m tired. So fucking tired of fighting for scraps of decency from a man who clearly never deserved my time.

“Fuck it.” I turn on my heel without another word. He can have that stuff if he wants to try and fight about it. I’m not stooping to his level.

“Why did you ever date her?” The woman’s nasally voice grates across my skin.

“Honestly, I don’t fucking know.” Matt’s voice carries across the yard.

I scowl and march toward the guys with the moving truck, which is pathetically empty compared to what I’d hoped to retrieve. They look at me expectantly.

There’s no reason to drag them out of town to the storage place. I pop my trunk. “I’ll still pay you,” I assure them as I grab the first box. “But I don’t want to waste your time on six boxes.”

“It’s no problem, really,” the older gentleman says, smiling kindly at me before his gaze flicks to the house.

Great. He pities me. I do my best to keep my head held high as they transfer the boxes. I pay them the four hundred dollars as agreed, stomach hollow. This was an unnecessary expense. I should be saving my money, but once again, Matt has screwed me over.

At least without all my furniture, I can get out of the storage lease I signed yesterday, but that’s hardly a victory. I’ll lose the deposit. While it’s only a hundred dollars, that’s money I could use to pay down the credit cards.

I climb into my car while anger and frustration war in my chest. I’m so mad at Matt for being such a vindictive asshole. More than that, I’m pissed at myself for ever thinking he was worth two years of my life. The moving truck takes off and I back out, throat burning, and head toward the guys’ house. I need to drop all of this off if I’ll be driving clients around this afternoon.

As I drive, I try to breathe and calm myself down, but as the anger subsides, I can’t seem to shake the feeling that this whole year is going to be a mess.

Chapter Six

COLE

The steady thump of my feet against the road fills the quiet morning air. Sweat drips down my back despite the cool fall breeze. Running has always been my way of clearing my head, and after the way Lily looked at me this morning, I definitely need it.

For a minute, I forgot that she’s off limits. My best friend’s ex. What kind of asshole breaks bro code? Matt never deserved Lily, but regardless, I’m trying to respect that boundary. Sometimes it’s hard, though, especially when her cheeks turn that delicious shade of red.

I round the corner to the driveway, catching sight of Lily’s car pulling to a stop. My eyebrows pinch. She’s back so soon? I slow to a walk, pulling my earbuds out and wiping sweat from my forehead with the hem of my tank top. She doesn’t see me at first, too focused on wrestling something out of her trunk. The set of her shoulders tells me everything I need to know. She’s pissed. Or hurt. Maybe both.