Page 44 of Some Kinda Romance

Wow. Two days ago, he’d been telling me that he wasn’t a player and yet, just last night, he’d been pictured with at least half a dozen women. I blinked hard, even pinching myself in an attempt to figure out if perhaps all of this was just a nightmare, but nope.

Pain shot through me from my leg and I didn’t wake up. Ethan’s threats still hung over my head and evidence of Dash’s promiscuity was still right in front of my eyes. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it. Sure, we hadn’t discussed being exclusive, but I’d figured saying we wanted to try to be together implied that we would only be with one another.

Ha. He must’ve missed the memo.

As I was torturing myself by sliding my fingers across the screen, zooming in and trying to figure out whose hands were where, there was a loud, banging knock at my door. I jumped, my hand flying to my chest as I blinked myself out of my jealous stupor.

When another knock dropped against my door, my stomach twisted itself into knots, but I went to answer anyway. If it was Ethan, making him wait would only work him up, and if it wasn’t him, I didn’t really care who it was. I would invite a salesman in for coffee right now as long as it wasn’t my fucking ex.

Carefully opening the door, I looked up. Relief and rage mingled inside when I saw that it was Dash. Those dark eyes were intent on mine, and he seemed upset. Without letting me speak, he took a step back, staying out in the hall as his eyes locked on mine.

“I ran into Ethan last night,” he said. “He told me you guys were trying to work things out. I don’t know when it happened or how, but I’m not getting involved in a marriage. I’m just not that guy. I’m here to let you know in person that I’m bowing out. Good luck with your marriage, Serenity.”

“There is no marriage,” I said firmly, narrowing my eyes at him. “Believe him if you want, but after I told the truth about who he was, I’d have thought you’d give me the benefit of the doubt. Ethan and I are over. We’re not working things out, nor will we ever.”

I didn’t even bother bringing up the pictures I’d seen of him because, while I felt jealous, I knew how pictures could make things seem like a situation was different than it was. Dash scoffed at me. “We shouldn’t be doing this. Obviously, he wants to work things out and I have no idea what’s really going on between you two, but again, I’m not getting involved in a marriage. He was here last night. That much, I know for sure, so it doesn’t seem to me like it’s as over as you’d have me believe.”

Giving me a curt nod, he spun on his heel and left. I wondered how on earth all this had happened. Things with Dash had been so up and down, so uncertain that I didn’t know if we should be doing it either.

After a brief debate with myself, I let him go without a fight. Ultimately, we’d been on exactly one date and we’d slept together all of one time. Neither of those things equaled a relationship worth pursuing if he didn’t trust me at all, and apparently, he didn’t.

It seemed he still trusted Ethan’s word over mine, and while that hurt after I’d opened up to him the way I had, I wouldn’t chase after him to explain myself. Right now, I had more than enough on my plate.

A complicated relationship with a guy who seemed to be looking for any way to get out of it just wasn’t something I had the energy for.

Even if that guy had made me feel things I’d never felt before and even if, for just a minute there, I’d thought that perhaps I’d finally found my happily ever after.