Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
But I didn’t understand, and instead, I stood there dazed, watching her strut away. She disappeared into one of the classrooms the production had taken over. She was undoubtedly eager to call her viper of an agent, tell her the breakup mission was accomplished, and now she could go to that singles party guilt-free.
Fuck my life. I slowly made my way back to Malik and sank onto my stool. “She broke up with me.”
“I heard.” Malik didn’t bother pretending otherwise. Setting aside his empty sparkling water can, he turned toward me, sympathy clear in his brown eyes. “That was ice cold, man.”
“Please tell me your breakup was worse.” My voice was somewhere between wooden and whiny.
“Lacey’s not a…not like Venus.” Malik quirked his lips. “Yeah, Lacey broke up with me, but this was the first time we’d lived together after years of dating and deployments. We discovered we didn’t have much in common.”
“Oh. That’s why you said earlier that having things in common is good.” It was far easier to follow Malik’s train of thought than Venus’s. We hadn’t worked together a ton, but I always liked talking with the guy. He was understanding without crossing into pity, and something about his thick build and steady demeanor was reassuring. Being around him felt good, even when I was fresh off my latest dating humiliation, my stomach sore from the ego blow.
“Yeah. In our case, it was better to find out before we got too far with wedding planning. She gave me the whole we’re better as friends speech, but I’d been starting to anticipate her bailing. Wasn’t ready for her to kick me out right away, but Harley sublet his apartment to me. It worked out. Your situation will too.”
“It won’t.” I drained the last of my root beer, head tipping back as memories rushed in. I gazed up at the stained ceiling tiles. “Dating never works out for me. My high school girlfriend ditched me for the quarterback.”
“Ouch.”
“He was my brother, so yeah, ouch.” I winced. Luckily, I didn’t have to see my sister-in-law that often. “Then my first girlfriend as a SEAL left me for a lieutenant.”
“Those SEAL bunnies…” Malik shook his head like I should have known better, and I probably should have.
“Yep.” For once, I was glad our shift was so quiet. We’d had an initial rush of people checking in, but now things had settled down to a distant hum of activity, leaving me space to continue my rant. “No surprise when the next girlfriend split when I got injured.”
“Lowest of the low.” Malik whistled softly. He had full lips framed by a perfectly groomed short beard. “You sure can pick them.”
“That’s what my sister Megan says.” I groaned and scratched my chin. Unlike Malik, I had no hope of growing a beard, instead doomed to sparse hairs that liked to evade my electric razor. “Megan says I need to change my type.”
“Tall, blonde, and emotionally unavailable not working out for you?” Malik laughed, but it was a gentle thing that warmed me more than it irritated me. And his finding humor in the situation was far better than a lecture.
“Damn. I guess I am predictable.” I shifted around on the stool, unable to find a comfortable position. “I was so happy though. An actress. Felt like a huge win.”
“Take some advice from a fellow serial monogamist. If you have to win her like a prize, that might be part of your problem.” Malik was probably only six years older than me, but he sounded more like sixty. “Significant others who want to be treated as a human trophy tend not to stick around. Those sorts are always looking to level up. Instead of trying to score out of your league, find someone you don’t have to work so hard to impress.”
He stretched his long legs out, like finding potential girlfriends was as easy as taking a stroll around the block.
“Of course you’d say that.” I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re hot.”
“Oh?” Pulling his legs back in, Malik tilted his head at me.
“I didn’t mean…” Damn it. I shouldn’t have drained my soda so quickly. Now I had nothing for what felt like a desert’s worth of sand gathering in my throat. “You’re the type chicks dig. The whole tall, dark, and handsome thing?” Fuck. Clearly, I paid too much attention to the covers of Megan’s romance novels. “And you were an officer.”
I paid enough attention to the office gossip to know Malik had been an intelligence officer assigned to the SEALs and had significant field experience. Apparently, he’d been heavily recruited out of college, headed directly to OCS, making him automatically more attractive to people who cared about rank and pay grade.
“Thanks, I think.” Malik twisted his mouth into another of those rare smiles, this one slightly wary. “But it’s not that easy. My own track record with dating is hardly stellar.”