The Ex Factor - Erin McCarthy Page 0,64
thing they didn’t need to be discussing. “Nothing good comes from telling the truth about stuff you don’t need to be honest about. There is such a thing as too much information.”
“If I didn’t know better I’d think you racked up double digits or something.” He looked amused, like he didn’t believe it for a second.
Oh, no, he hadn’t just said that. “Maybe I did,” she retorted, and they both heard the steel in her voice.
His head whipped up and his eyes narrowed. Apparently he did care, despite his initial nonchalance.
“See, this is genuine emotion,” Tennyson said, sounding pleased.
Jolene kind of wanted to throat punch her, but she was trying to stay right with the Lord. She breathed out of her nose, slowly. “If you were trying to tick me off, goal accomplished.”
“No, no, of course not. I’m trying to dig deep, get a song out of you that is raw and real.”
“I’ll tell you my number if you tell me yours,” Chance said.
She wasn’t falling for that. “I don’t need to hear about you mattress hopping, thanks, though.”
“I slept with two guys after my divorce,” Tennyson offered. “In rapid succession. It was stupid, but I was feeling lonely and vulnerable. Does that help?”
Not really. For all Jolene knew, she was lying. Besides, she didn’t know Tennyson or her ex-husband or anything about their situation and she found it odd that Tennyson tossed that out so casually. Besides, it wasn’t like she’d said seventy-two guys. She’d said two.
“It was three,” Chance said.
Jolene stiffened. He wasn’t even looking at her and he sounded blasé, unconcerned as he played with a couple chords, his hair in his eyes. “I thought there was only Dixie,” she said, wondering who in the hell the other two were.
He shrugged. “I got bored and I was trying to prove something.”
It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Far less than she would have expected. Still didn’t mean she wanted to discuss it. “I really don’t want to have this conversation.”
“Well, how many guys did you hook up with?”
That voice. It was deceptively calm. Jolene knew better. Chance was on the edge of explosion. One little pinky push and he would fall over. But that was their former pattern. She wasn’t going to escalate the tension.
But then he said, “Just tell me. It’s no big deal. It was Mike, wasn’t it?”
Fine. Since he wasn’t going to let this go. “You think I slept with our drummer? I would never do such a thing and you know it. For your information, my number is point five.”
“Point five? What the fuck does that mean? Was he short?” He looked mystified.
“It means no penetration that’s what it means.” She should have kept her mouth shut but there was no stopping a speeding train.
Tennyson’s eyes widened.
Chance’s jaw dropped open. “Oh.” Then he started grinning. “Oh. So you didn’t have actual sex with anyone? Was he just a chump or did you stop him before you went all the way? That’s very high school of you. But nice to hear.”
“Glad I could entertain you.” She stood up and went into the house without another word. She was not discussing their sex lives in front of Tennyson any more than they already had.
Chance realized he had fallen into a trap, and he knew better. He really did. There was no reason he ever should have participated in Tennyson’s little quest for raw emotion.
He didn’t want to hurt or embarrass Jolene and that was precisely what he had done. That was the old Hart-Rivers. The two of them now needed to be better than this.
“I need to go in there and apologize,” he told Tennyson. “Just give me a minute.”
“Why don’t you let me talk to her.”
That struck terror in his heart. “That is not a good idea.”
“No, seriously, woman to woman. We can talk about what a prick you are.” She gave him a grin.
“Great. How could I say no to that?” He shook his head. “Seriously, it’s not a good idea.”
Tennyson laughed. “This is my fault, so let me fix it. And ten bucks says I come out with a chorus for a killer song.” She winked at him and stood up.
That was highly doubtful. “I’ll give you double that if you come out with anything other than a black eye.”
“Deal.” She stood up lithely and strolled out into his house like she owned it.
If he wasn’t careful she might.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out. It was his