looked for his shoes. When he’d found them and laced them, he walked over to where she stood at the door. “Yeah, I’m mad,” he said, the words clipped. “I…I care about you. I thought you cared about me too. I want to be there for you, no matter what. I want to look after you.”
“I don’t need looking after.”
“I know you don’t. And I admire that about you. But that doesn’t change how I feel. I want to comfort you when you’re hurting. You didn’t even give me that chance. You didn’t even tell me. Fuck, Sloane.” He shook his head. “I knew something was going on. Christ.”
He should have pushed harder, but dammit, he’d barely seen her the last few days. Although she’d come to his place Wednesday night and still hadn’t said a goddamn word. That hot knife twisted in his chest.
She stared back at him, sucking on her bottom lip, her eyebrows sloped down over her eyes.
He sucked in air. “I thought we cared about each other. Was I wrong?”
Her eyes went wide. “I…I…”
“Obviously, I was,” he said bitterly. “Otherwise you would have told me something that important. I could’ve…I don’t know. You could have talked to me about it. I could’ve helped you deal with it.”
“I’m dealing with it fine.”
He stared at her. Was she seriously in that much denial about her own feelings?
He nodded. “Sure,” he said. “Good. Great. You deal with it. You don’t need me. I’m done.”
He nudged her away from the door, grabbed the knob and yanked it open. He walked straight to the front door. Becca was in Sloane’s kitchen apparently making coffee.
“Nice to meet you,” he snapped before he slammed out the front door.
He started walking toward Lake Shore. Maybe he’d find a cab. Or maybe he’d just keep walking. Adrenaline burned through his veins, hastening his pace. He didn’t even see what was around him, just kept walking past an ice cream shop and a CVS and a Starbucks. His face felt tight and his head still pounded.
Great. A great day to be not only hungover but heartbroken.
“What just happened?”
Sloane looked at Becca. “I’m not sure.” She rubbed the back of her neck. Tightness crawled up her scalp and made her head throb. “I think we just broke up.”
“I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It…it wasn’t that serious.”
“No?” Becca gaped at her. “That dude looked pretty serious to me.”
Sloane swallowed. “I need some Tylenol.” She moved to the cupboard where she kept it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. It was Levi’s birthday yesterday… Oh no.” She whipped around and saw the box with his Charlie Harper mugs sitting on the counter where he’d set them last night when they’d stumbled in laughing and horny. She closed her eyes. “Oh damn.” Pain burst in her chest.
I’m done.
She covered her mouth, then drew in a long breath and let it out. She found the Tylenol and shook out a couple of pills then filled a glass with water and swallowed them.
“We were out celebrating with his friends,” she said. “I might have a tiny hangover today.”
Becca blinked. “Wow. Good for you.”
Sloane frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means your whole social life consists of business dinners. Good for you to go out and let loose and get a little drunk. With your boyfriend who I didn’t even know about.”
Sloane picked up on the hurt tone in her voice. What was with everyone? Why did they expect her to tell them every freakin’ private detail of her life? “Is that coffee ready?”
“Yeah.”
Sloane poured herself a cup. She’d been sure Levi would be gone by the time Becca arrived, which wasn’t supposed to be for four more hours. This should not have happened. Not that she’d anticipated Levi would be so angry.
“Call Eric and see when he’s picking us up,” she said. “I’m going to shower and get dressed.”
The day was cool and cloudy so she dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. She scrunched her wet hair up into a messy knot and didn’t bother with contact lenses. After she threw a few things into an overnight bag, she returned to the kitchen.
“Eric’s on his way,” Becca said, sitting at the kitchen table flipping through a magazine.
“Great.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing someone?”
Sloane slumped on a chair at the table and gazed unseeingly at her coffee mug. “I don’t know.” She sighed then sipped her coffee. “At first it was just…sex. I wasn’t about to message you