Page 63 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

The guy—Ben—slanted his head, eyes narrowing as he looked up at me. At least a head shorter than I was and much slighter in build, I wasn’t sure how he thought he was going to win if it came down to a fight, but he tried getting tough with me anyway.

“I didn’t ask for your permission, dude,” he spat. “This doesn’t concern you at all, so you can run along now. Thanks.”

I looked back at him, wondering if he really thought he was going to intimidate me. The guy was completely clean-cut with tiny hands and hair styled like he had dreams of belonging to a boy band.

What does he think he’s going to do, dance me to death?

I supposed it was possible that I would keel over and succumb to shock if he broke into a routine, but short of that, it wasn’t happening. His glare had nothing on mine and I had a definite height and weight advantage.

“Maybe I should make myself a little clearer. I’m not going anywhere, but you are.” I flicked a hand at the street. “Beat it.”

“You must be her new thing,” he said, still not having the good sense to back off. “Sorry, buddy. Lila falls in love just as fast as she falls out of it, so your days are numbered. I’m not involving you in what I need to talk to her about.”

She scoffed at my side and took a step forward. “You and I have nothing left to talk about, Ben. We had a clean break. Let’s keep it that way.”

“You heard her,” I said, reasserting her stance when he didn’t make any move to leave.

He glanced between the two of us, his baby-faced jaw tightening as he threw his hands up in surrender and moved his gaze back to hers. “I’m in town for a few days. We’ll see each other again.”

With that, he nodded to himself and turned, walking to a hybrid parked just down the block. Lila sniffed and shook her head, storming in her building but waiting for me at the elevator. There was a very indignant sort of fury flickering in her eyes as they met mine.

“That’s not true,” she seethed quietly. “I don’t fall out of love as quickly as I fall into it. I don’t usually fall at all and he knows that. We were friends for ages before anything happened.”

The elevator dinged its arrival and the doors slid open. I took Lila’s hand and led her inside, hitting the button for her floor and following her into her apartment when we arrived. She’d fallen into a contemplative silence as soon as that flurry of rage had left her.

“Are you okay?” I asked once we were sealed inside. “He’s your ex, right?”

Only a single standing lamp in the corner of her open-concept living space was on, emitting just enough warm light to be able to navigate around the room without switching on any others. I watched as her narrow shoulders fell, her back to me as she strode to her kitchen. Her hair was still a little messy from our quickie in my office, but she pulled it over one shoulder, twirling the edges around her fingers.

When she reached her little kitchen, she flicked on an electric kettle, facing me now that she was behind the counter. Her cheeks were a little pink, but other than that, she looked alright. “I’m okay. I just wasn’t expecting him to show up and it threw me off a little.”

“Do you have any idea why he might’ve come?” I asked. “He seemed to think you still had something left to talk about.”

“I really don’t know.” She sighed and raked her fingers through her hair. “We broke up a few months ago and he’s been contacting me on and off ever since. I think it might just be a reaction to my indifference. When he told me he thought we should call it off, I agreed and I don’t think that was the reaction he was looking for.”

Her indifference. Alright then. I guess at least that means I’m not just some rebound fuck to her. It still grated on me that she’d ever dated that guy, though I knew it was illogical to be jealous of something that had happened before I’d even met her.

“Okay, well, why did you break up in the first place? Maybe that has something to do with it.”

She shook her head and the kettle boiled. “Tea? I know we only came to pick up some things, but I need a cup.”

“Sure.” I watched as she crossed the small space to an exposed shelf against the wall and plucked off two teacups.

Waiting her out instead of repeating the question, I walked over to her couch and turned as I sat down so I’d still be able to see her. She fixed our drinks, picked up the cups when they were ready, and carried them over to me.

“To be honest, I didn’t need his reasoning when he told me,” she explained quietly, handing over my cup. “All he said was that he didn’t see us going anywhere. I guess I just accepted it meant that he wanted something else.”

“But he’s been contacting you on and off?”

She shrugged. “I’ve never actually told anyone about that. I haven’t taken his calls or read his texts. As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t said a word because I haven’t spoken to him.”

“That couldn’t have been easy, to ignore someone like that.”

“It was too easy.” She exhaled a slow, long breath. “God, that makes it sound like he was telling the truth, but I swear it’s not like that. It’s just…”

Her head dropped forward and she seemed to be chewing things over before she looked up at me again, her features open and her eyes shining with sincerity. “Ben hasn’t been in love with me for a long time. I’m not even sure he ever was. So many nights, I waited for him to come home, but he cared more about hanging with his Wall Street bros than he ever did about me. I used to ask myself so often if he even wanted to be in a relationship or if he was only with me to be able to say he had a girlfriend waiting for him at home.”

My heart twisted for her, but his loss was my gain. “I knew he was a jackass as soon as I saw him. I just didn’t realize he was a stupid one.”