Stud Muffin (Donner Bakery #2) - Jiffy Kate Page 0,9

glasses at the tip of his nose as he flips through the stack of papers in front of him.

“Uh, no sir, but it will be next week.”

Sighing, in either frustration or reluctance, he cuts his eyes back up at me and repeats, “Seems to me you’ve been in a little trouble, Miss Cassidy.”

“Yes, sir.”

Honesty is still the best policy, right?

“Also seems to me that the trouble stems from your… well, temper, Tempest.”

Temper. Tempest. I see what he did there and the pun isn’t lost on me, but I decide to plead the fifth on this one, keeping my lips in a straight line … and shut.

“In the last three months, you’ve been brought in on a domestic dispute, disturbing the peace, vandalism … and the most recent count, destruction of personal property. How do you plead?”

I swallow, wanting to turn around and see if my mama is still sitting behind me, but if I saw her, then I’d see my dad, and the look of disappointment I’m sure I’d see on his face would be a little too much for me to bear. “Guilty, your Honor.”

Judge Carson nods, pursing his lips, as he flips back through the pages, obviously thinking … thinking of what my fine will be … or sentence, perhaps. Cole told me that my worst-case scenario is a few days in jail and a thousand dollar fine, neither of which I want.

The fact of the matter is, this divorce has cost me in more ways than one. Not only did I lose my husband, but I lost my vehicle and soon I’ll have to give up my house, along with half my savings to cover attorney fees.

Can you believe that shit? He cheats and I still have to pay. But it’s fine because I don’t want anything from him and I’m ready to be done with everything involving him, so the faster this is over the better.

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

There are a few people in the courtroom murmuring, probably talking about me, but I tune them out. I don’t really care what people are saying or what they think of me. I can’t explain the reasoning behind the crazy things I’ve been doing. They don’t really make sense at all.

However, I know that with each incident—a pile of burnt clothes, a vehicle dumped into Mr. Miller’s pond—I feel a little better inside, like a small piece of myself is coming back.

The truth is, I want Asher to feel what I feel—to hurt like I hurt—but that’s impossible. What I’ve come to realize lately is that he’s not the person I thought he was. He doesn’t care about me. He doesn’t love me. If he did, he never would’ve broken our vows. I thought they were sacred. I thought we had something special. But I was wrong.

There’s no way I can hurt him like he hurt me, because I loved him.

I was ready to go to the ends of the earth for him.

But he threw all that away.

Metaphorically, he burned everything we’d spent years building to the ground in one afternoon.

The damage was already done.

It kills me every time I see him and Mindy around town. I wonder what he’d think if the tables were turned, but again, I’d never do that. I’m Tempest Cassidy and I’m loyal to a fault.

I also realize that even if I went out and fucked the whole town, I’d just be the new town whore with a broken heart… and maybe a few STDs. I wouldn’t be doing myself any favors.

So, I’ve settled for a different kind of revenge.

The first time I was arrested was the night I was standing outside of Asher’s new house. I’d been sleeping and had one of my nightmares—this vivid dream where I’m walking into the house all over again. He’s moaning. She’s moaning. Practically the whole house is shaking. And then I’m standing in the doorway of our bedroom and I see them.

One time, I was pregnant—round belly, my hands protectively placed.

When I woke up, I had tears streaming down my cheeks and my heart literally ached.

That particular night, I decided if I couldn’t sleep, then neither should he. So, I went over there—to his new house. In my fluffy pink house slippers and my red plaid pajama bottoms from Christmas, I stood in Asher’s front yard and yelled out every feeling I’d pent up inside me—the hate, the betrayal, the disgust. I just let it all out, yelling so loud I