to cut through the crap and ask what the hell was going on with her and my brother. For a split second, common sense tried to have a voice, but in the end, letting loose felt too good to hold back.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Was I not clear enough? Here. Let me spell it out for you. From the moment we started being nice to each other, I’ve gone out of my way to make your life better. You know why? Because that’s what you do for people who matter.” I listed all the times I’d taken extra care to ensure she had what she needed. The meals I’d cooked. The massage at The Hutton Hotel. Showing up at The Drunken Goat to help fight off that flirtatious dickhead at her so-called business meeting. “You like fruity drinks? I’ll fucking hand squeeze you some OJ and make you one. And what, exactly have you done for me in return? Nothing. That’s what.”
Kennedy glared, blue eyes flash-freezing as I watched. “I didn’t ask you to do any of those things.”
I held up a finger—not my favorite one. “Yeah, but you sure hinted extra heavy. When we first met, I pegged you as someone who used people to get what they wanted. I don’t know why I’m surprised to discover I was right.”
“I am so confused right now.” She ran a hand over her mouth. “I can tell you’re mad, and if you’ve been feeling taken advantage of, then you have a right to. But what I don’t get is why you’re being so mean about it. How did I hint that I wanted you to do those things for me?”
“All you did was complain about not having time to eat. I solved the problem. Then you complained about stress. So, again, I solved the problem.”
“Complaining isn’t hinting.” Her voice raised and she gestured as if expecting the palm trees to come to her defense. “That’s not the way it works.”
“No. You’re right. The way it works is that I go out of my way to meet your needs and you go behind my back to meet with my brother. You know, the one guy you’d quit your job for even though you made it very clear you weren’t interested in giving up your career for me.”
And there it was.
Out in the open.
She didn’t laugh at me for being silly. She didn’t tell me I was being foolish. She didn’t hit me with a sharp retort. She just stared for a long minute as an ice age froze her features.
One frost-coated eyebrow arched. “You think I’m cheating on you with Collin?”
“I’m pretty damn sure of it.” I reached into my back pocket and presented her with her phone. “I know you two have been talking behind my back. I also know that when I confronted you about it, you avoided the topic with your usual grace. The conversation I had with him wasn’t much different. And the text he sent you afterwards? Yeah...” I shook my head. “What else am I supposed to believe?”
She took her phone from me without so much as a glance at the screen. Her storm-thrashed eyes were trained on mine. “How about you start with the fact that I’m not the kind of person who cheats. And you have no right to be this mean to me when you don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
I gave her a pointed look, then unleashed the fury that had been locked in my head all day. “I call him to invite him to dinner tomorrow. You know, one more thing you said you wanted that I was going to make happen for you. And I find out the two of you have been talking. And apparently hanging out? That was news to me and I don’t feel like it should have been.”
Years of rejection reared its head. My biological mother surrendering me to the state. Perfect Mom giving me back after making me think I’d finally found a family who wanted me. Then life with Collin, doing everything I could to make things for him better, only for everyone to forget about me as I stood in his shadow.
Throughout it all, I told myself I always had him and that would be enough.
No matter how awful the rest of the world got, he was in my corner. I’d been a fucking idiot to think he wouldn’t betray me, too.