to beat it and he wouldn’t have thought twice about it. It’s not as if he and Sasha had been a ‘thing’. They’d shared a few drinks and not much else. If she had other ideas, that was on her not him. But as he stared down at her, he noted a few things—her arms were crossed and her stance was aggressive, but that didn’t jive with what he saw in her eyes. What he saw there was hurt. He’d treated her like shit and Sasha was right. He owed her the opportunity to lay into him.
“All right. Let’s go.” He moved aside and waited.
“Seriously?”
He nodded and she shoved past him, heading outside to the abandoned summer patio. White Christmas lights sparkled at them, strung from the beams overhead, and other than a few smokers huddled in the corner, they had the place to themselves.
Matt waited for Sasha to speak and it didn’t take long.
“You’re an asshole.”
Not entirely original, but altogether true.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” she asked, her face growing red with anger.
“What do you want me to say, Sasha? I was an asshole. I can’t argue with you there.”
“I gave up an entire Friday night to watch you play hockey and I don’t even like hockey. And then you left me at this bar without even saying goodbye. Who does that? There’s a certain expectation when you start the night out with someone, and it doesn’t include being abandoned. You went after that Simon girl like a dog in heat and then walked out the back door. How do you think that made me feel?”
“Look, Sasha. I’m sorry. It was a dick move and I can’t say anything that will make it right.”
“That’s all you’ve got? One lame-ass attempt at sorry?” She looked like she was going to explode. Sasha threw her hands up into the air and took a step toward him. “You know what? Forget it. I should have listened when my girlfriends warned me about you. They said I’d regret it. Said that you’d screw me and that would be that.”
She made a sound of disgust. “I’m glad we didn’t get that far.” She paused, her eyes narrowed. “You do know what they say right? What everyone says about the very hot, but very unstable Matt Hawkins?”
Normally at this point in the conversation, Matt would have told Sasha off and left. What the hell did he care what people thought?
“They say that you’re the biggest man-whore in the state of Michigan. They say that you don’t give a shit about anyone but yourself. That you’re all about your buddies and having a good time. That you have sex with women and then throw them away like trash. I just thought…” She shook her head angrily. “I just thought that maybe they got it wrong. I thought that maybe you’d changed.”
The smokers edged past them and slipped inside the Grill, but by their backward glances, Matt knew they’d heard the entire conversation.
Matt had been called out before. Hell, it was usually how each and every hookup he’d ever engaged in, ended. He’d heard it all and been called much worse than asshole. To him, it was all part of the game. He slept with a woman—sometimes more than once. He slept with her until he either lost interest or she expected more. When that happened he broke it off, and that usually led to an exchange of words that never painted Matt in a good light.
It had never bothered him before—he’d always been upfront. Not once had he ever indicated to any woman that he was interested in more than a few rounds in the bedroom. But right now, in this moment, Sasha’s words bothered him. He gazed up into the night sky and wondered about that. What the hell was happening to him?
“I feel sorry for her.”
Matt’s head snapped back to her. “Who?”
“Grace Simon,” she replied frostily. “Everybody’s talking about how she’s shacked up with you at your place. Which I guess for you is a first. But you and I both know you haven’t changed. You’re still a cold snake and she’s not from around here. She doesn’t know about you. About how you are.” Sasha turned away. “That girl doesn’t stand a chance. Good thing she’s loaded and can afford therapy. After you’re done with her, she’s going to need it.”
Sasha disappeared back into the pub and left Matt alone in the dark and cold. He stared into nothing for a long,