Page 75 of The Other Room

“Oh my God, yes!” one of the clones answered, and the rest excitedly shook their heads. “We love her! I saw her at a club in Chicago once!”

Leaning forward a little closer into Nikki’s space, I let my gloating grin grow like ivy up a trellis. “Well, it turns out you cheating on Jake was the best thing that ever happened to him. You see, right after we ran you out of town, Jake met someone. Cassandra Davenport, or Cassie as we call her. And now they’re engaged. Engaged! Isn’t that the best news ever?” I stopped gloating only long enough to clap my hands together a few times.

If she wasn’t wearing so much makeup, I know I would have seen the color drain from her face. Instead, all I got were blinking eyes and a slack jaw.

“Shut up!” one of the clones shouted. “Cassandra Davenport lives up here? Oh my God! Can we meet her?”

They squealed in unison, but I didn’t let the assault to my ears break the stare I had with Nikki. Nope. I was enjoying watching the horror dancing in her eyes.

“Yep. She lives here with him.” Her confident facade dissolved completely, and I marched in through the opening. “I’d say he upgraded, wouldn’t you, Nikki?”

“Seriously! Can we get her autograph?” One girl asked, but I ignored her.

“Thank you, Nikki. Thank you so much for being a trashy, self-centered whore. You cheating on Jake was the greatest gift you could have given him. Now he can be happy. Like really happy. And rich! So filthy, fucking rich he could buy a jet if he wanted one. Wait... they already have one. So, thank you.”

My unveiled insult finally shook her from her shock. “I— I’m happy for him.” Lifting her chin, I watched her struggle to regain her composure. “Really I am.” A fake smile lifted her lips, and she shifted in her stool. “And Matt? Do you two still hang out?”

Hearing his name roll off her tongue dumped kerosene onto my wildfire of rage. Heat coursed through my veins like lava, and I was sure it funneled out my eyes in the form of laser beams. Clenching my fist, I pressed into her space.

“If you ever so much as breath his name again, I will come over this bar and finish what I should have done last year. Now take your Stepford friends and get your ass the hell out of my bar. And don’t you ever fucking come back.”

Nikki rocked back in her stool, but this time she didn’t try to deflect my anger and play it off as a simple misunderstanding. This time she knew I meant it.

Because I did.

“Come on, girls. Let’s go.” Keeping as far out of my reach as she could, she slid off her stool and hurried out the door.

My hands shook as I struggled to quiet my breathing. While I watched the girls rush down the street, I forced my feet to stay planted and not take off after her like they were begging to do.

“Damn...” Sheena whistled, and I turned to see her standing at the corner of the bar. “Remind me not to get on your bad side!”

The lighthearted remark and the smile on her face calmed me down. “Sorry. I hate that chick.”

“I kinda came to that conclusion when you called her, what was it? Oh yes. A trashy, self-centered whore. Nice.”

Laughter shook my shoulders and helped slough off the tension Nikki’s sudden appearance had created. “Yeah. I really hate that chick.”

“I’m sure she deserves it. But again... I’m staying on your good side.” Sheena sucked the air through her teeth and disappeared around the corner.

While I wiped the bar and tried to let the last of my fury fade away, visions of her wrapped in Matt’s arms kept popping in my mind like a Whack-a-Mole game. Just when I shoved one image out of my head, another popped back in. And with each vision, a little more of my rage returned.

Rage, or was it fear?

Fear he still wanted her. Fear he’d hurt me. Fear he’d abandon me.

Just like my father.

That familiar voice whispered in my ear, goading me, telling me to run, begging me to pull the ripcord and float far away, guaranteeing me a soft landing.

I knew that voice well. It had controlled my relationships for a long time, and Matt was always the other voice on my shoulder reminding me to be brave. Reminding me that not every man was a liar and a cheater like my father.

But in the end Matt had no right to say those things.

The image of him pressed against Nikki’s lips sent my stomach tumbling, and I braced against it again. Despite always being my shoulder to cry on and voice of reason, he’d been the one who’d betrayed his best friend. He’d kissed Jake’s girl. I felt my grip slipping while I tried to hold on tight to the memories of how happy I was in his arms. How safe he made me feel. How safe he’d always made me feel.

It’s over, Jo. He’s forgiven, I reminded myself over and over again. Each time hoping I would believe it.

He loves you now. Remember that.