Page 145 of Manhattan Bossholes

What was it about me that forced guys to end relationships at the drop of a hat?

“God, men suck sometimes. But hey,” Jennifer said. “Neither of them deserved you. So it’s totally their loss.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Except now here I am, with no Levi, and with annoyingly successful Aiden in my life again. Honestly, if I did have to get stuck with one of them, why did it have to be him?” Levi’s betrayal was the freshest, but at least I knew what had happened there. It sucked that he’d fallen in love with someone else when I thought he was in love with me, but at least he’d been honest about it. I’d probably never know what went wrong with Aiden—and like hell if I was going to ask him after all these years. That would make me look like a desperate fool who was unable to let things go, which wasn’t at all the case. But who could blame me for wanting an answer?

Jennifer nudged my shoulder, chuckling to herself.

“I’m failing to see what’s so funny about any of this.”

“You’re right. It’s not funny. I was just thinking, if you do have to interact with one of your exes on a regular basis, at least you got the walking eye candy. That’s, like, a tiny plus.”

“This isn’t helping,” I said as I fought off a horrendous blush. Yeah, Aiden was a mega-jerk who owned two-million-dollar bottles of liquor, but that didn’t stop him from being the hottest guy I’d ever met. He’d been cute in high school—the big football player type, still getting used to his size and his strength—but damn if he hadn’t aged like fine wine. Or something sexier than wine. Maybe the Macallan Genesis 72-year-old whiskey. God, my cheeks were flaming.

“I’m sorry,” Jennifer said, clearly lost in her own world. “I just can’t get that image of him walking into the bar out of my head.” She groaned. “It’s been sooo long since I’ve had sex. Too long.”

I snorted, plucking at her pilled Pooh-bear pajama bottoms. “Well, maybe if you didn’t spend your days off becoming one with the couch and K-dramas…”

She laughed, and the tension in me eased at the sound. “Fair point,” she said. “But seriously, Cora, don’t let the convo get you down. I say good riddance to Levi. And good riddance to Aiden as soon as you finish this contract. Right?”

I nodded, feeling a flicker of resolve. “I hate feeling like I was fooled again. I really did think Dominic was a decent guy. But you’re right, I need to focus on getting Elixir Free off the ground and making the most of the time I have to use the lab for my Masked Mixer videos.”

“Yes, exactly. You are a successful, badass mixologist. Screw all these guys.” She handed me a slice of pizza. “And screw the way they think it’s fine to just dump women they’ve made commitments to.”

I leaned my head against her shoulder. “You’re really the best.”

“Damn right I am.” She picked up the tube of cookie dough and the remote. “Now would you like to watch some so-bad-it’s-good K-drama with me?”

“Obviously,” I said as Jennifer pressed play on the melodrama hijinks. Dominic and Aiden’s conversation had torn open old wounds, but Jennifer’s pep talk had given me some perspective and reminded me to keep my guard up around them—around Aiden especially. He’d already put me through hell once. I wasn’t about to let him do it again.

Jennifer shoved a glob of cookie dough into her mouth followed by two pieces of pepperoni.

I snorted. “I can’t help but notice that this is your second pizza this week.”

“Yes,” she said, leaving room for my follow-up question.

“Is everything okay? With work, I mean.”

She sighed, staring at the ceiling. “If by ‘okay,’ you mean is it the same old bullshit? Then yes.”

“You never used to call it the same old bullshit,” I pointed out.

“I know. Or, I guess, I don’t know. It’s just what it is currently.”

I hummed. I didn’t like how flat she sounded, like she was resigned to being unhappy, but I didn’t know what else to suggest. Would taking a break or doing something completely different for a while help? Cooking was what Jennifer did. It’s who she was. Jennifer was to cooking what I was to mixology. Was it that easy for someone to fall out of love with something? Or someone, I thought miserably.

“Oh!” Jennifer said, whacking my arm. “This part is so good. Look!” The smoke detector wailed on the screen. Honestly, if this was what work was like for Jennifer on a daily basis, I couldn’t blame her for being disillusioned with her job.

My phone buzzed, and I fished it out of my pocket, glancing at the screen. “Huh?” I said, sitting up.

“Who is it?” Jennifer asked, not really paying attention.

“I don’t know. Looks like a New Jersey number.”

“Probably spam. Don’t answer it.”

I did answer it. “Hello?”

“Cora?”