Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 103030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Where would we be if I were ten minutes earlier?
I rub my jaw. I’d be in a relationship with a liar.
The statement is technically true—she omitted a serious fucking piece of information. Omissions are lies. But even though I try desperately to make myself believe it, to sit on the truth and get comfortable in it, I can’t.
It was too reminiscent of Kendra. When I walked into Picante for a business dinner and saw Kendra sitting with Charles Gamby’s hand around her shoulders and his lips pressed against her cheek, my faith in relationships imploded.
Yet that was nothing compared to today.
Literally nothing.
I got to my car after seeing Shaye with Marius and vomited. It hurt so fucking much. It was a punch in the gut that I didn’t see coming.
“You okay?” Wade leans over, his hand covering his mouth. He glances at me out of the corner of his eyes as if he thinks I’m not okay and he doesn’t want to put me on the spot.
Who knew? Wade does have a heart.
“Yeah.” I tap my shoe against the concrete floor.
“Ollie?” Boone says my name like a little kid would call to his older brother. “What’s wrong?”
I look at the ceiling. The inevitable is here.
Coy stops working out whatever rhythm he was using as a coping mechanism. He licks his lips. “Is there something else you need to tell us?”
“I know that look.” Holt stretches his legs out in front of him. “That look has nothing to do with Dad. Or Mom.”
“Shaye,” Boone whispers.
Four sets of eyes are on me—three-and-a-half. Wade isn’t all-in. He pulls out his phone and pretends to be absorbed with something on the screen.
It’s uncomfortable to have so many people in your business but, then again, it helps. It helps to know that I’m not alone. That I have people on my side.
“What happened?” Coy asks.
“I went by to see her at work.”
“You work there too, so …” Coy looks at me confused.
“She has a second job,” I tell him.
He seems satisfied with this answer.
“Anyway, I go in there, and Marius Blast is there. Kissing her fucking cheek.”
Just saying the words out loud, hearing them float across Coy’s studio, is enough to infuriate me again. I shift in my seat in hopes it’ll make sitting and not punching something a little easier.
“Blast? How the hell does she know that motherfucker?” Holt asks.
“Landry Gala.” I lift a brow as a look of understanding crosses Holt’s face. “Apparently, he also sent her a bunch of flowers, and she didn’t tell me. She says she sent them home with someone else.”
“Ouch.” Coy grimaces.
“What’s Blast doing sending flowers to our girl—your girl?” Boone holds his hands up. “Sorry. Your girl. Misspoke.”
“She’s not my girl anymore.”
That admission floats nowhere. Instead, it sinks between us.
My brothers sit quietly, something that’s uncommon. They probably know that I need a few minutes to gather my thoughts before I just bleed out on the floor in front of them.
They’ve all been in my shoes to some degree. They all, except for Wade, have a woman they love. I’m sure they’re imagining how I feel.
Like shit.
Used.
Like a fucking joke.
“I’m going out on a limb here and saying that this situation sliced through your trust issues, right?” Holt asks.
“Oh, a little.”
“But …” Boone points a finger at me and then reads my face and puts it back on his leg. “But what did she say? I know Shaye, and I’m sure she has an explanation.”
“Yeah. What did she say?” Coy asks.
“I don’t know.” I rub my forehead, my headache intensifying. “I just … she said the usual. She didn’t want to upset me by telling me. That it didn’t matter.”
That she loved me.
My stomach recoils. I’m sure it would spew the contents if it hadn’t already emptied them.
That sentence is what haunts me. “If omitting things is a lie, and we’re coming clean, then just know that today, when you told me you loved me? I hadn’t realized at that moment, but I did later. I love you too. Loved you too.”
Did she love me? Does she love me? Does it make a difference?
“I wasn’t there, but I see her point,” Coy says.
I fire him a look.
“Think about it,” he says. “So some fuckhead sent her flowers. So what? That says a lot more about Blast than it does Shaye.”
“How do you figure?” Boone asks.
“Well, Blast isn’t stupid. Anyone who’s been around Oliver lately knows he’s different. I’d imagine that if Oliver was with Shaye at the gala, then Blast knew Shaye was Ollie’s girl.” Coy looks at me. “Blast wasn’t fucking with Shaye. He was fucking with you.”
“Why would he do that? I don’t have shit to do with Blast.”
“Because he’s a male, primarily.” Wade’s voice is resigned. He doesn’t want to have this conversation any more than I do. “Look, I’m only sharing my opinion in hopes it puts this situation to bed, and we can all get on with our lives.”