The Lying Season (Seasons #1) - K.A. Linde Page 0,73
I’d put him behind me, he still made me so infuriatingly angry and near-to-tears upset. He’d manipulated me, and I should have known better. Seen it coming. But I’d been blindsided all the same. And it hit me fresh every time.
“Thanks for that,” I said to the guys. “I just need some air.”
Then I pushed past them all, through the back door, out to the deck, and then continued until my feet were in the sand. The beach was still relatively sparse this time of night. And it gave me the peace and quiet I needed.
I tipped my head back to stare up at the nearly full moon and breathed in the salty air. I wasn’t alone for long though. After a few minutes, Sam plodded down onto the beach next to me. I met his gaze, lit only by the moon and the brightening stars overhead.
“Sorry,” I said automatically.
“So, your ex is a total dick. I don’t blame you for wanting a minute.”
I laughed in a self-deprecating manner. “Yeah. I really knew how to pick ’em.”
“What happened? Why is he like that?”
I ran a hand back through the tamed loose curls that framed my face. “Well, Thomas and I dated for just over a year. I thought things were perfect. He moved into my apartment. My parents got him a job with the company. I was pretty sure I was going to get married and all that.
“Then this girl who used to work for the mayor was telling everyone about the hot date she’d had the night before with a guy on Tinder. She showed everyone the picture…and it was Thomas.”
“What?” Sam asked, wide-eyed.
“Yeah. He was picking up people on Tinder and taking them back to my apartment to have sex with them.”
“What the fuck? Why?”
I shrugged. “Narcissistic personality disorder?”
“How about a giant fucking entitled douche bag?”
“That too. Well, I confronted him, but he denied it all. Said he wouldn’t move out, wouldn’t leave the company, wouldn’t let me break up with him.”
“What the fuck?”
“I’d made it too easy on him. I’d brought him into this world,” I told him. “He didn’t want to let it go. Penn and Lewis packed all of his shit up one day and threw it out into the hallway, had all the locks changed, and were there to threaten him if he came near me again. But the job with the company…my parents took his side. They didn’t believe me. Thought I was exaggerating because I just couldn’t be happy.”
“God, I’m so sorry. That’s horrible.”
“It was a really rough couple of months. Between the shit with Thomas and you leaving me for Melissa, I just kind of figured I was done with relationships.”
“Wait,” Sam said, holding a hand up, “I didn’t leave you for Melissa.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What else would you call it?”
“That isn’t what happened at all. You hacked into her computer and made up a bunch of fake emails between her and a nonexistent guy. Then you paid someone to pretend to be him. He showed up in Madison and proclaimed his love for her. It was next-level manipulative!”
I took a step back. “You still believe all of that? I sent the email. I told him that she was in Madison and to come see her. That was Bad Lark. I admit it. Melissa was just the latest casualty in my warpath,” I said in frustration. “But I did not invent this guy. Those emails had already been there. She was talking to him. You just refused to listen to me.”
“Then how did she have receipts of you paying him?” he asked.
“God, I can’t believe we even have to go over this again,” I said with a shake of my head. “I paid for his flight to come out to see her. That’s the receipt she had. It was wrong. I owned up to that. I spent the next five years trying to not turn into that manipulative person again. But I was not the only one in the wrong that day. Melissa started it all.”
He paused and took a deep breath. “Sorry. I don’t want to fight about this. I just…I guess I still don’t really know what happened.”
“Here’s what happened,” I said with a resigned sigh. “You invited your ex-girlfriend to stay at your place and help with the campaign the last three weeks we were there. You and I were dating, and then there was another girl—your ex—living in your apartment.”