Page 46 of The Broken Hearts Club

“Oh. Well… congratulations, I guess.”

“You guess? That’s so heartfelt. Have you considered switching careers and writing Hallmark cards?”

“It just seems sudden.”

“You don’t know when we started dating.”

“No, but it has to be less than a year… right?”

I shot him a look. “Of course it was less than a year, but thanks for insinuating I was dating him while you and I were still together.”

He paused before saying, “You know, we never got to talk after our breakup. I really hoped we’d have a chance to clear the air, so maybe we can do that now.”

“I don’t think there’s anything left to say, unless you’ve thought of a few more things that are wrong with me and feel compelled to share.”

“I shouldn’t have said any of that. I guess I was trying to justify my decision to end the relationship, so I tried to find fault with you. I’m sorry, Miller.”

“What a perfect example of too little, too late.”

“I wasn’t wrong to end our relationship. Going through with that wedding wouldn’t have been fair to either of us.”

“You’re right. It’s good you ended it, but you didn’t have to go about it like that,” I said. “You didn’t have to wait until two days before the wedding, and you really didn’t need to add insult to injury.”

“I agree, and I regret the things I said. Instead of trying to make it your fault, I should have told you the truth.”

“Which was?”

“There was this guy…”

I muttered, “Fucking hell.”

“I didn’t cheat on you.”

“But you really, really wanted to?” He looked guilty, so I asked, “Who was he?”

“He was someone I worked with. He was always flirty and attentive, and I found myself thinking about taking him up on his not so subtly veiled offers. Like I said, I didn’t do it—not while you and I were together. But it made me think, if my head could be turned that easily, was I really ready to get married?”

“You’ve always been an attention whore, Bruce,” I said flatly. “Any time somebody flirts or offers you a compliment, you eat it up with a spoon. I doubt that’ll ever change, even if you get married at some point.” He frowned, but he didn’t try to deny it. After a moment, I asked, “So, whatever happened with the flirty guy at work?”

“We dated for three weeks, and then he left me for a thoracic surgeon.” I couldn’t hold back my snort of laughter. Bruce said, “I deserve that.”

“Oh believe me, you deserve far worse.”

After a moment, he asked, “So, where did you and Collie meet?”

“Nope. You and I are not going to sit here and dish like two old friends.”

“No, I suppose not. He’s surprising though, not at all the kind of person I’d ever picture you with.”

“Because you assumed I only date douchebags?”

He made a beckoning gesture with his hand. “Go ahead. Call me names if it’ll make you feel better. And I’m sure there’s a lot you want to say to me, so let it out.”

“Not really. I just want you to know you truly hurt me, and I hope you never do that to anyone else, because no one deserves to feel like I did. But there’s nothing else to say, because you’re in the past.”

He’d been trying his best to seem cordial and sincere, but a bit of the real Bruce slipped out when he sneered, “And you really think that weird, effeminate goth kid is your future?”

I got up and said, very calmly and levelly, “Collie is amazing, and it’s really pathetic that you’d try to take a jab at him. He’s sweet, and fun, and stunningly beautiful, and he lights up any room that he’s in. It feels good to be around him. And I completely admire the way he’s always his true, genuine self, with zero fucks to give about what anyone thinks of him.” I held his gaze steadily as I asked, “How much of that do you think anyone would ever say about you?”