“Right before you slammed him into a Toyota and rubber-band snapped his soul.”
“He’s fine.”
Fine? I didn’t think so. But maybe I also, just this once… didn’t care.
Peter had behaved poorly enough to deserve stern words at least.
I’d gotten a few from Grim myself…
And a few more interesting ones saidaboutme.
Relax, she likes it.
As Grim’s rebuttal from earlier swirled through my mind, I shoved my knees together, gripping the seat even harder. Because he was right. Ididlike it. And I’d liked it even more when he’d told Peter I liked it—being told what to do. Bossed around. By him…
“What’s the matter?” asked Grim, oblivious to my current struggles, my mounting strife. My boiling blood. Would he notice if I turned on the AC? “You want me to slow down or something?”
Yes. No…
“Why are you gripping the seat like that?” he demanded. “Are you afraid?”
No.
Yes…
“Where… where are we going?” I asked.
“I’m only taking you home,” he said. “I just… needed to ask you something. I thought the parking lot at your work would be a neutral space.”
“You have my phone number,” I said as he pulled to a stop at a red light, my words earning a scalding glare from him.
“Look,” he grumbled, “I didn’t mean to scare you by showing up.”
“I’m not scared,” I murmured. “I’m just… curious. About what made you decide to stop by in person.”
“Yeah,” he said, “well, I’m curious about a few things, too.”
Oh, so he was going to avoid the question, huh? Interesting…
“Like…?” I probed.
“For starters?” he asked. “Why would someone like you ever waste your time on a guy like that? Was that the dipshit you went to the costume party with? You said you work with him, but I don’t get it. Is he your ex or what? And did he fucking call youLeaflet?”
My face burned and I sank in the seat a bit. Because it was a cringey pet name, wasn’t it?
The light turned green, and he hit the gas again—clearly bothered.
A small smile touched my lips, and then I turned my attention forward, eyes on the familiar roads as he took every turn like he’d driven this route to my apartment a hundred times.
Like he really was my boyfriend…
Was Grim interested in my relationship with Peter because he was genuinely curious… or could it be he was jealous? Why did I want to pretend it was the latter…?
“Peter and I were together… yes,” I said. “We weren’t official for very long before he called it off. I found out recently that he lied and possibly, I’m still not sure, cheated. There were red flags but… I overlooked them. I guess I wanted to believe in my idea of Peter instead of the person he kept showing me he really was.”
“Why?” he asked again.
“Because I’m starting to realize—too late, I think—that I have a bad habit of believing the best of people.”
