— and blessedly — alone, I dropped my head back and stared up at the mirrored ceiling. “Biggest. Loser. In. The. World.” I didn’t think it was possible for my day to get any worse.
It wasn’t until later that evening that I would be proven very, very wrong.
I WAS DEAD ON my feet by the time I left Flora later that evening. The sense of accomplishment I felt at doing what I loved successfully, maintaining my family’s legacy, gave me a serious high. But there were rare occasions — such as today — when my level of exhaustion made me unnaturally grumpy.
My phone pinged with an incoming text message just as I stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button for my floor. I leaned against the back wall and fished through my bag until I found it, an unnatural sense of giddiness making my belly dip at the name on my screen.
Rich: taking ur furball for a walk before he pisses on my shoe. Be back soon.
There was no reason for his text to make my stomach riot with butterflies the way it did. Honestly, it was such a simple message, there was nothing in it, no underlying meaning, no innuendo, but like a schoolgirl with a stupid crush, I got all giddy because Richard Locklaine just texted me.
Me: ok. Home now so just bring him by.
The elevator dinged, the doors sliding open as I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the ridiculous smile off my face. I would not succumb to that man’s charms. I wouldn’t. Iwouldn’tIwouldn’tIwouldn’t!
As soon as I stepped off and turned in the direction of my apartment, the giddiness dried up and any chance of a smile crossing my face disappeared. All thoughts of Richard vanished.
“Hey, Delilah.”
“Brant?” Just saying his name made me feel sick to my stomach. But it was seeing his face that made my hand twitchy with the urge to punch it. “What are you doing here?” I asked in a spiteful tone I hadn’t realized I was capable of. Neither had he, if the shock on his face was any indication.
“I tried calling—”
“I changed my number after we broke up,” I snapped, folding my arms across my chest as I stepped up to my door, making sure to leave a good three feet of space between us.
He cringed and reached up to run his hand through his sandy blond hair. “Yeah. I kinda guessed that.”
“So since changing my number because I had no desire to ever speak to you again prevented you from reaching me, you thought it’d be a good idea to just show up at my apartment? Do you have a death wish, Brant? If Devon had caught you here, you’d be bleeding out on the carpet right now.”
He held his hands out in a placating gesture, taking a step closer and forcing me to move back to maintain the space between us. “I know, Del, I know. But I had to talk to you.”
“Why?” It was then that I noticed just how shitty he looked. Not only was his normally impeccably-styled hair a disheveled mess, but his clothes were wrinkled and there were dark circles under his eyes. After the breakup I had wondered how I’d react if I ever saw him again. For a while I imagined my heart would still hurt, but as I stared at Brant in the hallway, looking as miserable as he made me feel when he cheated on me, I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Please just hear me out, Del. I made a huge mistake.”
I let out a loud bark of sarcastic laughter. “Oh yeah, and what would that have been?”
He reached out and grabbed my wrist before I could pull away. “I never should have let you go, babe. I’ve missed you so much.”
Yanking my arm back violently, I stepped closed enough to poke him in his chest. “You didn’t let me go, you idiot! You cheated on me, and I left your sorry ass. You had no say in the matter. Still don’t so you’re better off just leaving now.”
I turned my eyes off of him to reach into my purse and get my keys then moved passed him to the door. I’d just gotten the key in the lock when he spoke again.
“I want you back.”
AS I LOOKED DOWN at the little rat laying on my living room floor, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. He hadn’t moved much at all since Delilah dropped him off