Total pages in book: 10
Estimated words: 8838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 44(@200wpm)___ 35(@250wpm)___ 29(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 8838 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 44(@200wpm)___ 35(@250wpm)___ 29(@300wpm)
“Yeah?”
I tried to offer him a smile, but it didn’t happen. My mouth wouldn’t tolerate the lie, apparently. “That’s what you want? You haven’t changed your mind?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I agreed. “But you also just insinuated that you’re looking forward to fucking around on me. So you can see how I might be a little confused.”
He let his fork drop, clattering on his plate. “Dammit, Susie, that’s not what I said. And you know I don’t like it when you talk like that. Ladies shouldn’t use that sort of language.”
“Stop being a hypocrite, and answer the fucking question.”
He winced as he gazed down the length of the table from beneath dark brows. As if he was worried people were listening to our conversation. “You and your jealousy. You’re always jumping to conclusions. To be brutally honest, this is part of why I’m going. To get some space from you.”
“What?”
“Can we just enjoy ourselves, please?”
I sat back in my chair and stared at him. Studied him, really. The way his shoulders were hunched over and how his jaw was clenched. Like he was hiding a secret or something. “Aaron, look at me.”
“What?” He stared at his plate. “Stop it. You’re causing a scene.”
“Look at me.”
“What?” he growled and finally met my eyes.
“Are you planning on cheating on me in London?”
He turned his face away. “Stop being ridiculous. God, you’re embarrassing. You’re ruining everything.”
My back snapped straight. It was like a light bulb had been turned on inside my head. And all of the metaphorical cockroaches scuttling for the shadows were... Whoa. It was heartbreaking and horrible in equal measure. The mess I had made. The familiarity of feeling this way, of knowing something was wrong. Only this time, I wasn’t falling for his bullshit that it was all my fault. I wouldn’t allow him to turn it around on me. I was well aware of my various issues and neuroses, but it wasn’t them leading me astray. It was him.
How had I ignored the signs? What had happened to me? Somewhere along the way I had gone from being kick-ass to wearing a sign that said Kick me.
“The problem is, Aaron, you’re not as good a liar as you think you are. It just took me a while to see.”
“That’s enough, Susie,” he hissed. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“No. I think we should discuss it now.”
He screwed up his handsome face and hit the table with the flat of his hand, making it shake. Making me jump in my chair. And hell, if everyone hadn’t known something was going on before, they sure did now. “That’s it,” he yelled. “I’ve had enough. We’re through.”
“Hey,” said Lars in his deep voice. “Calm down.”
“Yeah. We’re done here.” I placed the napkin on the table, stood tall, and squared my shoulders. No way would this asshole see me cry. I refused to give him the satisfaction. “Have a nice life, Aaron.”
Two
“I thought I heard someone out here.” Aunt Susan, my namesake, joined me on the front steps of her house. It was a little after nine, the night of Aaron’s going-away party.
She owned an old two-bedroom cottage in Ballard. The place had definitely seen better days. But for all intents and purposes, it was still my home. As a child, I only ever felt welcome here. Both of my parents were too busy getting on with their lives after the divorce to have time for their kids. Andrew just wanted to go to his friends’ houses. Aunt Susan, however, always had time for me. So of course this was where I ran when my life went to shit. This was my safe place. My refuge. Despite it becoming battered and crowded with junk over the years.
“Susie.” She tightly wrapped her pink fleece robe around her and tucked a strand of long silver hair behind an ear. “What are you doing sitting out here in the dark?”
“I was working my way up to coming inside. Just wanted to get myself under control first.” It was a damn cold night. I huddled down in my woolen coat with my black Alexander McQueen scarf wrapped tight around my neck and noisily blew my nose into a tissue. “Aaron and I broke up.”
“Oh, my love.” She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“Neither you nor Cleo even liked him. Which should have been a major red flag yet somehow wasn’t. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”
“We can’t always help where our heart leads us.”
“Yeah.” I hiccupped and swiped the tears off my face. My makeup must have been a mess. I probably looked like an ugly clown-woman with a broken heart. It wasn’t too far from the truth. Aaron had treated me like a joke for long enough. And I let him—let’s not forget that damn salient detail. “I really did have feelings for him. I thought we could make it work. Now, though...”