“Me calling you a liar didn’t even register? What made you so distracted?”
“Tessa showed up at my office upset. We argued about Robyn the day before. She brought breakfast to apologize. I couldn’t turn her away.”
His eyes widen, and when he opens his mouth, his voice an octave lower—mocking me. “We argued about Robyn. I couldn’t turn her away.” He fists his hand on the table. “Who’s supposed to be your girlfriend?” Andrzej’s brows shoot up. “And you had breakfast with her? Afterward?” He shakes his head slowly. “Not that I thought Robyn would lie—I just couldn’t imagine you being this stupid.”
“Dude, I’m right here.”
“I’ve got no problem saying it to your face.” He leans against the bar, the wood creaking under his weight. “Didn’t a week ago when you went on a date with Tessa. Was that before or after you kissed her silly?”
“I didn’t go on a date or kiss her—it was a joke!”
He laughs once, humorless. “Have youseenthe video, Nate? Because a thousand people have, and I bet you not one of them would guess you kept an engagement ring for a different woman.” He tips his drink back, scanning me over the rim. “You look… hell, everything’s there but the bulge in your pants.”
I drag a hand down my face. “Jesus, Andrzej.”
“Fuck no, Nate. Don’t tell me you got hard kissing someone who wasn’t your girlfriend. That’s so fuck?—”
“I didn’t get hard kissing Tessa,” I whisper-yell, leaning in. “It felt so off… wrong.”
“Itshouldfeel wrong.” He pins me with his cold eyes, and it has the same effect as if he were dissecting my guts. “Let me tell you now, if you thought ofherat any time when you were with Robyn?—”
“Andrzej, I swear.” I tug my hair hard so I feel something other than this burn down my throat. “I pulled away.”
He scoffs, setting his glass down with a thud. “Too fucking little. Too fucking late.”
I nod, the words catching in my throat. “Yeah. Ten seconds too late.”
His expression stays stoic, jaw set, eyes unblinking, but the longer he looks at me, the larger the crack. The anger softens into something closer to disillusionment.
“You cheated on her,” he says, quieter now. “Didn’t even bother denying it. I’d kill to have a woman look at me with half the love Robyn looks at you?—”
“Wow, I didn’t cheat.”
He snickers. “Talks like a duck, quacks like a duck, motherducker.”
The silence stretches, filled by the low hum of music and the clink of glasses. Andrzej exhales hard through his nose, tension breaking a little.
He signals the bartender with two fingers. “You look like shit,” he says. “My people believe vodka doesn’t solve problems, but it helps put a smile on your face through anything.”
I manage a weak grin. “I’m okay putting that theory to the test.”
“I have more questions, but let’s get fucked up.”
The bartender slides two glasses across the counter, clear liquid catching the dim amber light. Andrzej lifts his glass like a salute. “Na zdrowie. Cheers.”
The vodka burns going down. Good, it’s supposed to.
He eyes me over the rim of his glass. “So… breakfast apparently has a PG-thirteen excuse. Do you have one of those for why you were checking out her ass?
“What?”
“You still haven’t figured out Robyn saw you?” He asks the bartender for two lagers this time. “Arm on Tessa’s shoulders? Favorite baked goods? Drooling over Tessa’s legs?”
I grab the wooden counter until my knuckles go white. She did see. She said so. I rack my head trying to figure out what Andrzej’s talking about. “She… Tessa asked if I thought her skirt was too short.” I huff out a breath to his challenging smirk.
“For a meeting with her CEO.” I drag a hand through my hair. “Curt something or other. At her marketing company.” I let out a low groan, shoulders sagging. “Something about attrition rates, dude. Iwasn’tchecking her out.”
Andrzej shakes his head. “That sounds like you wereinvitedto check her out. Not that youdidn’t.” His tone’s accusatory as he grabs one of the beers from the server. “I’d tell you she probably even saw Robyn, but you wouldn’t believe me.”
