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“Summer?” Grant asks from behind me.
I turn around with a vindicating smile and watch all of the color flush from his face. “Hi, Grant.”
“Kelsey. What are you doing here? And why the fuck are you wearing a wig?”
“Sit down.” My voice is cold and calculated. I pull up the Tinder app and show our message thread as he takes a seat across from me. “Care to explain this?”
The paleness of his face is gone, replaced by a flushed pink color rising from his neck. “It’s not what it looks like.”
I cross my arms and huff out a laugh. “Seriously? That’s the line you’re going with? I thought as an attorney, you’d have a much better answer than that.”
“I knew it was you trying to bait me.” His predictable response came out a lot sooner than I expected.
“Suuuure, you did. Is that why you’ve been on the app for a fucking month?! I mean, how many other women have you met up with from here? How many times have you told me you were working late, when you were really off fucking some other woman?” I can feel my entire body shaking with rage. My fists are clenched so tight that I can feel my fingernails digging into my palms.
Grant lets out a long exhale, looking around the crowded bar before looking back at me. “You and I haven’t been us for a long time, Kelsey Bear. That spark that was there at the beginning is gone. Don’t tell me you haven’t felt the distance growing between us.”
“Maybe the distance has been growing because you’d rather fuck other women than actually put work into our relationship,” I scoff, my heart ready to burst out of my chest. “And if you were so unhappy with me, why didn’t you just break up with me like a man?”
“I guess…” he sighs dramatically and rubs his forehead. “I’d hoped eventually that fire we had would come back.”
Instinctively, my arms cross over my chest. “And tell me, Grant. How exactly was that fire supposed to come back when you were making absolutely zero effort to fix things? When you’d clearly rather give up than work at it?”
“You know, you aren’t exactly innocent in all of this, Kelsey,” he spits back spitefully.
“Oh, this ought to be good,” I chuckle in disbelief. I know lawyers have a reputation for being cold and heartless, but this is another level. He’s living up to the stereotype of trying to talk his way out of trouble.
“What efforts have you made to fix this relationship?”
That question is the one that makes me snap. My body reacts before my brain can process what’s happening. All of a sudden, my palm stings and Grant is holding the left side of his face.
“There’s my effort to end the relationship. I’ll be by throughout the week to move my stuff out.”
After grabbing my things, I start to walk away from the table, but Grant grabs my wrist. His grip is tighter than a pleading grip should be. “Don’t do this, Kelsey. I love you.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.” I roll my eyes as I yank my arm away. “Goodbye, Grant.”
Chapter 9
I catch Kelsey’s eyes on mine as she walks out of the bar. I nod my acknowledgement that I’ll be right behind her. I’m so proud of her for standing up for herself. The fact that she slapped him was an added bonus.
I wait a minute before leaving the bar — I want to watch this asshole in the aftermath of that interaction. People like him put on a show when they know someone is watching. It’s when they think no one is that they usually do something incredibly stupid.
Once Kelsey is gone, the douchebag gets up from the table and starts heading toward the bar. There’s a tall, busty brunette, wearing a low cut black dress, standing at the bar facing the room. Her smile brightens as he approaches her — she probably thinks she’s about to score big tonight. I knew this guy was a dick, but this is lower than I’ve ever seen.
I can’t stand by and let him get away with this shit. I beeline toward where they are standing, a newfound sense of purpose in my stride.
“Hey, sweetheart,” I address the brunette, “I just thought you might want to know, his girlfriend literally just dumped him less than five minutes ago. She caught him trying to cheat on her with some hook-up from Tinder.”
“Ugh, gross!” She flips her hair over her shoulder and walks away from him.
Grant turns toward me, seething like a raging bull. In fact, I’m pretty sure I can see the smoke coming out of his nostrils.
“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?” I ask Grant once the girl is out of earshot. “You never deserved her in the first place, but you just fucked up the best thing that will ever happen to you.”
“Who the hell are you? And how do you know so much about Kelsey?” His jaw is twitching with anger.
If I gave a shit what he thought, I might be offended. I’ve met this asshole at least a half a dozen times. Clearly he doesn’t remember me, but he will.
