I’m also tempted to tell her the truth, but she never signed the NDA, and I’m not about to toss away my professionalism. “He just...he doesn’t love me. That’s the long and short of it. And all I can say per the NDA.”
“NDA?”
Oops. I didn’t mean for that to slip out.
“Nondisclosure agreement,” I whisper.
“Wha—you mean, the Warden broke up with you and made you sign an ND-freaking-A? Oh, he’ll enjoy his next ride to work, let me tell you.”
I manage a bitter, barely there smile.
“I still don’t believe he doesn’t love you, by the way,” she adds a minute later. “Before you, I never thought Ward and flowers could coexist in the same universe without a black hole opening.”
“Then you’re as naive as I am.” A poison laugh falls out of me but soon turns into uncontrollable tears.
End me.
I’m never going to live this down, am I? At least I’ll be gone before everybody in the office hears about it.
“Oh, I hate seeing you like this. I hope he’s a hell of a lay to put up with this trash.”
I wipe my eyes and sniff until my nostrils bend in. “I’m not putting up with anything. This was pretty final, but yeah. He has a PhD in horizontal acrobatics and judo kissing.”
Reese snickers. “TMI about the bossman.”
“Sorry, you asked.”
“Fair.”
She pulls up in front of my old apartment a short while later.
“You sure you’ll be okay alone? Maybe you should stay with a friend tonight? Or family. You have folks around here, right?”
“I’m fine. It’s not like this is my first rodeo being dumped.”
Technically true, only this feels like a mess of scorpion stings to the heart.
I fling the car door open.
“I’m telling you, he loves you. I’m sure of it,” Reese insists, trying and failing to make me feel better.
I bite my lip. “And I’m telling you you’re wrong. Love isn’t something he does, not after this. He didn’t even know I was there, standing behind him when he said I meant...basically nothing.” My chest feels hollow.
“Jackass!” she hisses.
I shake my head.
“No, just a Wardhole who handles his emotions like a stick of dynamite. Thanks for the ride.”
I shut my door and head upstairs.
The second I collapse on the couch, I’m texting Brina. Come bearing alcohol. Do not bring Maggot. Single people don’t need to see kissy faces. TY.
Brina: Who’s single???
Me, I type, feeling a shot to my chest.
Brina: But your contract isn’t up yet! And what happened to the moves he was making? Last I checked, you looked anything but single.
I wince as I type, Amazing show, wasn’t it?
Brina: ...you’re joking?
Nothing funny about the Winthrope crap, I send, twisting my lips as I add, Or Wardholes with empty shelves where their hearts should be.
Brina: Paige, I’m coming.
I sigh with relief. Thank God. Don’t forget liquor!
With the cavalry coming, I turn on Netflix, looking for a happy distraction until Brina arrives. It doesn’t help. The cushions on the couch sink under my weight. I nestle deeper into my body-shaped indent and dry sob.
How was I ever blind enough to think a man like Ward Brandt was interested? And how could I be that dumb twice in one lifetime?
Prince Charmings are a myth, and even when they’re not, they definitely don’t fall for sculpting nerds who compare their handsome, grumpy, heart-stabby faces to the stars.
We’re face-to-face. Skin on skin. Soul in soul.
Connected.
But I still need it deeper, both the thrust and the burn of his kiss.
As if he can read my mind, he plunges deeper, marking me with the fire in his lips. My legs tighten around him.
“Paige.” He breaks our kiss on a torrid groan.
He pulses inside me, his stubble rakes my throat, and his eyes are a little mad in the way that always sets me off. My body responds, clenching around his, twining my tongue in his rasping mouth like I want to be consumed.
“Don’t ever leave me. Promise?” He rolls off and cradles me.
“Promise,” I whisper.
His lips are about to brush my forehead when—
A harsh tapping noise yanks me from my dream. Memory? Memory-dream?
Ugh. What planet am I on?
The banging starts again.
“Paige, it’s cold! Let me in.”
Cold? How long have I been zoned out?
I pull myself up and stagger to the door with my eyebrows knit together. “It can’t be cold. It’s still summer,” I say.
Brina hits me with the widest grin. “Yep, but it got you off your butt. Nice to see you too.”