Page 52 of Crashing Tides

The words fall out of my mouth. “Oh. Congrats.”

He lets out a short laugh. “Thanks. I know it was a quick turnaround time. I wanted to let you know it isn’t personal, alright?”

It isn’t personal. Like fuck it isn’t personal. “We were together two years,” I stammer.

“Yeah, and it didn’t work out, Dominic. Sometimes these things just happen. I found Marc, and you… you’ll be fine.”

My stomach flips.

“Look, you’re young, you’re hot, you have good taste. Somebody will appreciate you, OK?” Jeremy continues, like the issue is a lack of self-esteem and not his total betrayal.

“You cheated on me,” I say. My voice is flat.

“Yeah, this isn’t why I called. If you wanted to talk about this stuff, you should’ve done it earlier.”

A surge of fury. “My mom was dying,” I hiss into the receiver. “I was a little busy.”

“Babe, you let that consume you. Marc was here for me when you weren’t. It’s just how things worked out.”

My legs feel like jelly. I want to punch a wall. Flip a bench. Break down a door. Scream. “But I needed you.”

“Dominic,” he sighs, like I’m being unreasonable. “You were on another planet. All the time. You needed nonstop validation. It was exhausting.”

“We were talking about getting married. It was your idea.” I am going to vomit. I swallow, close my eyes, but the world around me is tilting.

“Yeah. I wanted to get married. I just…” Here his voice finally softens, like maybe he realizes he’s in the wrong. Like maybe he doesn’t want to hurt me anymore. “Not to you.”

“Not to me,” I repeat, more for my own sake than his. “So you cheated on me instead.”

“I couldn’t exactly break up with you,” he says. His voice is getting whiny, which means he’s feeling defensive. “You would’ve freaked.”

“I-You lied,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. Campus whirls in circles around me. I feel like I’m on a carousel, only it’s spinning out of control, and there’s no way to jump off. “Of course I would’ve been upset. I am upset,” I add, because I think I deserve to say it and he deserves to deal with the discomfort of hearing it. “And you did break up with me.”

“Dom. Things weren’t working.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know that. You didn’t even give me a chance.”

“Do you want your stuff back or not?” I can imagine all too well the way his nostrils flare, the way his eyes narrow and glint beneath thick, well-groomed brows.

“Keep it,” I growl. “Let it haunt you."

Then I hang up the phone.

Chapter

Sixteen

Iwander into the library ten minutes later on numb legs. My entire body is shaking. I go into the bathroom and stand in front of the urinal until I realize I don’t actually have to pee. Then I stumble back out and find Jane.

She takes one look at me and sets her pen down. “What’s wrong?”

I collapse into the chair next to her and try to type the password into my computer. The keys clatter beneath my fingers. Whatever I just entered is completely incoherent. “Uh, my ex just got engaged. To the guy he cheated on me with. They’re buying a house.”

Jane reaches both hands out in front of her and closes our laptops in a single, coordinated movement. “What do you need right now?”

“A stiff drink,” I mumble, because I’m not sure how else to respond.

By the way she bites her lip, I know she doesn’t approve, but she gives a curt nod and starts putting her stuff away.