“Okay, fine,” he admits. “I saw your car outside. Figured you’d be here.”
I nod my head, passing a tight smile.
“I just wanted to ask you something,” he says, giving me that soft, practiced smile, the one that used to work every single time. “Let me take you to dinner,” he says. “We could talk. Catch up.”
I almost laugh. Because of course. Now he wants dinner. Now he wants to talk. I mean yes, it feels a little satisfying, but at the same time irritating.
“I have a boyfriend,” I say.
“Yeah. Of course… Ryan.” He lets out a quiet breath of a laugh, like the name doesn’t really carry weight.
I cross my arms and raise my eyebrows.
“You can’t seriously tell me you two are actually official,” he says, his tone still light even though something tight slips underneath. “You and I both know that’s nothing compared to what we had.”
My jaw tightens. Because even though Ryan is my fake boyfriend, he has treated me better in a few weeks than Jacob managed in an entire relationship.
“I just want dinner, Mads,” he says more softly. “There’s no one I’d rather do that with than you.”
The sentence land hard.
There is no one I’d rather be with.
He used to say that all the time. And I believed him every single time. Now I don’t even feel slightly satisfied, just angry, because he has some fucking nerve to say that again.
“Well,” I say evenly, “you probably should’ve thought about that before you cheated on me, Jacob.”
For a split second, I see his expression tightening, something sharper pushing through the calm. But I don’t give him time to answer. I step around him and start walking toward the parking lot.
“Mads—wait.”
His hand closes around my arm. Firm. Tight enough that heat shoots through my skin and my body goes completely still. I look down at where he’s holding me, then back up at his face.
“Come on,” he says quietly. “Just let me try to fix this.”
My arm burns where his fingers press into it.
“Maybe,” I say just as quietly, “you should take the girl you kissed to dinner instead.”
Something flashes across his face, and in that second, I pull my arm free. I don’t say anything else. I just turn and walk away.
My steps come a little too fast at first as I cross the parking lot. My wrist still aches, I rub my thumb over it, like that might somehow erase the feeling. And it feels like there is something pumping against my chest. Is my heart racing?
“Hey, babe.”
I blink, snapping out of my thoughts.
Ryan steps in beside me like he’s been there the whole time, one arm already sliding around my shoulders. There’s a girl standing a little too close to him, her attention fully locked on us.
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” he says easily.
It takes me half a second—but then I get it.
“Yeah,” I say quickly, nodding. “Sorry, babe, I’m a bit late to our—”
“—beach walk,” Ryan finishes smoothly. “Yeah. We were just heading out.”
The girl’s gaze flicks between us. I turn to her, offering a polite smile and holding out my hand. “Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m Ryan’s girlfriend.”
