Tap Out (Reaper's Den Book One) - Nikki Mays Page 0,1

threes, fours, through fourteens.

“So still sitting around with your thumb up your ass while your woman is ignoring you and telling you that she isn’t your woman.” My perceptive ex states.

She’s not wrong, but I refuse to admit that. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I say while pretending that the forms on my computer need my immediate attention, even though I’ve been staring at them all morning without doing a damn thing.

She shakes her head at me like she’s disappointed in me or that she thinks that I’m stupid. It’s probably both. “Why don’t you just apologize to her and get on with your life together?”

My spine goes straight and I glare at the woman sitting across from me. “Why should I apologize? I didn’t do anything wrong. If she doesn’t want to be with me, I’m fine with it.” I say stubbornly while ignoring the hollow feeling in my chest.

Sage doesn’t even bother to hide her loud and obnoxious snort. “Sure you didn’t do anything wrong, directly, but indirectly you sure as hell did.”

I lean back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest. “How do you figure?”

“If you hadn’t been such a damn manwhore before you met Stacey, you wouldn’t have random ass women coming here, jumping into your arms, and kissing the hell out of you.”

I can’t even stop my wince. The look of horror and betrayal on Stacey’s face when she saw that is burned into my memory.

Stacey and I met a little over a year ago when her roommate and best friend Brad was viciously attacked. I started training him once he was healed up enough, to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again. He almost died because his parents are assholes who don’t approve of the fact that Brad is gay.

Stacey would drive him to the gym and stay with him while he trained. Eventually we started a friendship that turned into something more. Not that anyone but Sage knew since Stace was afraid that my girls wouldn’t approve. Where she got that from, I’ll never know, but I agreed to keep what we had a secret. I figured that she would get over that eventually. Unfortunately, a chick that I had messed with a long ass time ago decided to look me up since she was in the area. And it was just really shitty ass luck that Stacey was standing directly across from me when the chick, whose name I remembered much later as Cadence, jumped into my arms, and shoved her tongue down my throat while squealing about how much she missed me.

Stace looked so hurt and betrayed that it gutted me. I dropped Cadence as quickly as possible but the damage was done. I expected Stacey to yell or be pissed off, anything really. But when I finally caught up to her, all she did was give me a heartbreakingly sad smile while telling me that she should’ve known better. That was the last time that she has willingly spoken to me. Four months since the woman who has my heart has done more than nod in my direction when she sees me.

But maybe it’s for the best. She definitely deserves someone who doesn’t have the kind of past that I do.

Swallowing that would be a lot easier if I actually believed it.

I put my hands palms up. “What do you want me to do? She pretends that I don’t exist unless I ask her something in front of everyone. I’m pretty sure that she’s blocked my phone number as well. She’s made it pretty clear that she wants nothing to do with me.” I mutter petulantly.

“Can you really blame her?” My traitor of a best friend asks.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on my side no matter what?”

“Not when I’ve been telling you for years not to be such a ho-bag.” She smiles smugly. “And we both know how stubborn you are. If you actually wanted her attention, you would get it.” She taps her index finger against her lips. “So, it begs the question, why aren’t you trying harder to win her back?”

“Maybe I just think that she deserves better than an old ho-bag as you so eloquently put it.” I say lowly while looking down at my desk but not really seeing it.

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” The concern and sympathy in her eyes when I look up make me wish that I had kept my eyes down.

“How can