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Weston lowers his smoldering gaze to my finger, then lifts it back to meet my eyes. “Come with me to my car,” he says, gently grasping my wrist. We cross through the parking lot, past the police vehicles, and come to a halt next to his Honda. He’s the one who crosses his arms now, as he leans back on the hood of the car. “Yes.”
“What?”
“Yes, I provoked him.”
My glower strengthens. “Youadmitit?”
Weston laughs and draws his brows together. The evening sun shines gold in his eyes, lighting the darkness and turning them a softer, warmer brown. “What? You expected me to deny it? Yes, I spilled his drink on him. How do you know? Did you talk to him?”
I swallow hard as I stare back at Weston. My chest feels squeezed tight and I wiggle my fingers in an attempt to release some energy from my body, but God, I feel kind of .?.?. sick. There’s something so mesmerizing about the glow of sunshine against Weston’s arm of tattoos and the navy blue of his uniform as he sits on the edge of a dusty old car. So effortlessly attractive .?.?.
“He called me earlier,” I choke out. My chest is so restricted, I can hardly catch my breath. Even my brain feels foggy as I attempt to recall my conversation with Luca this afternoon. “He was pissed, because somehow he’s gotten the idea that you and I are .?.?. a thing.”
Weston pushes off from the car and steps forward in front of me, and I realize now exactly why my stomach is starting to hurt. It’sbutterflies.“You want to know exactly what happened?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, here’s what happened,” he says, holding my gaze. “I was minding my own business at the bar, and I overhear some douchebag next to me bragging about keeping his ex on the backburner as his backup plan. I turn around and yep, you guessed it, Gracie. It was Luca.”
My blood runs cold. “He said .?.?. He said that?”
“In similar words.” Weston grimaces. “I know I shouldn’t have gotten involved, but I couldn’t stand there and listen to him talk about you like that. He laughed at how easily he could get you back if he wanted. Helaughed, Gracie.”
I release a slow, controlled breath as I absorb Weston’s words. Running my hand back through my hair, I collapse against the car door and blink fast. Luca spoke so cruelly on the phone earlier, it should be no surprise that he would talkaboutme just as ruthlessly, but it stings deep. The pain of him leaving is still so raw, and the wound stretches further, deeper now. Is that really how Luca feels? That I’m some pathetic loser putting my life on hold and waiting patiently to welcome him home from this little bachelor’s adventure of his? It makes sense now, his outrage over Weston being in my life. Luca says he wants me to take the time to find myself too, to explore a life without him, but it’s apparent that he wants me to always choose him. He wants the decision over our future, ultimately, to be his.
“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you,” Weston apologizes after allowing me a minute of silence to process it. There’s genuine regret in his gaze, and he shrugs, abashed. “My blood was boiling and I couldn’t just walk away. So, I tipped over his drink.”
“And?”
“And called him an asshole.”
“And?”
“And told him to stay out of your life.”
“And?” I prompt again, harder this time.
A flicker of confusion races across Weston’s expression. “And .?.?. I don’t know? That was it. I walked away before I could knock his lights out.” He smiles wryly, only to be met with my reproachful look.
“You’re not telling me the most important part.”
Weston’s confusion transforms into exasperation. “What, Gracie?”
I glance around us, ensuring there’s no one else in the parking lot, then straighten up from the car. Lowering my voice, I hiss, “You told Luca we slept together. Why? What would possess you to tell him that?”
“I didn’t,” Weston argues, but then his shoulders sink and he sheepishly scratches his temple. “Well, I told him I’d left my phone in your apartment the night before he saw us together, which is true, because I did .?.?. I was onlyinsinuatingthat we slept together because I wanted his heart to stop, I wanted him to suffer, just for a second.”
“Wait. Youdidn’ttell him about that morning at your place?”
Weston shakes his head, seemingly appalled that I could believe he would tell Luca that in the first place. “Of course not. I’d never do that.”
I stare wide-eyed at the cracks in the concrete below my feet. Luca onlysuspectedthat I’d slept with Weston, and what did I do? I only went ahead and confirmed it! Weston didn’t tell him.I did.
“Weston!” I groan, throwing my head back to the sky. “I thought you’d already told him, so I didn’t deny it.”
“Hey, relax.” Weston steps in front of me and places both hands beneath my jaw, gently lowering my head down. Our eyes lock and my stomach lurches. He keeps his hands on my face as he smiles reassuringly. “So what if he knows? What’s he going to do about it, anyway, huh?”
I fight really, really hard to keep my gaze from fixating on his mouth. “He wanted me to pass on the message for you to stay away from him, otherwise you won’t like what happens.”
