Page 105 of Twisted Beauty

“Shame you didn’t tell me any of that. The problem is, I can’t believe anything you say now, can I?”

She looked into his eyes for a long moment, and then reached out to touch his chest. She pressed her open hand over his heart, and he didn’t move to stop her. The truth was, it felt good to have her touch him one last time, even if she wasn’t the person he thought she was. Or hoped. Maybe that was the better word. Because he obviously hadn’t been doing much in the way of thinking lately.

Finally, she nodded and dropped her hand. “Goodbye, Matt.”

She turned to walk away, and he watched her go until she disappeared into the condo. His throat was thick and his head hurt. It was hard to believe he’d never see her again. Even harder to believe she’d lied to him after everything he thought they’d shared. The door shut behind her.

“Goodbye, Liv,” he whispered.

25

Liv

The sound of blinds sliding open woke Liv from a deep sleep. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head to block the morning light streaming in through the bedroom window.

“Time to wake up, sleepyhead.” Katie’s voice sounded way too cheery for how exhausted Liv felt.

“Go away,” she mumbled into her pillow. There was a damned good reason she didn’t want to wake up. At the moment, she had no idea what that was. And she didn’t want to know.

But reality slowly seeped into her awareness. Grant’s fake smile mocking her across the table. Matt’s ire when she walked in the door. That stupid, irrevocable lie.

Why did Katie need to wake her up? She was so much happier asleep. There had to be some unspoken rule about this kind of thing. Some consolation prize, like a month of uninterrupted mourning after having your heart shattered into a gazillion pieces. Even longer if it was your own stupidity that brought it on.

The mattress dipped beside her as Katie sat down so she tightened her grip on the covers, keeping them tucked over her head. Katie yanked them off and Liv yelped. She threw an arm over her eyes to block the glare.

She should have expected this. She’d climbed straight into bed after Matt drove away yesterday and cried herself to sleep. The fact that Katie waited until morning to harass her about it was borderline miraculous.

“You look like crap,” Katie said. “Here.”

Fragrant steam tickled her nose. Katie knew her too well. The only thing that would get her out of bed on a day like today was coffee. The smell was so rich and tempting, Liv forced her eyes open and dragged her body into an upright position, leaning back against the headboard and squinting against the light. She took the mug Katie offered and wrapped her hands around it, burying her nose in the steam. “Thanks. I think.”

“You’ve been in bed forever,” Katie said. “I thought you might need this.”

“Forever?” How long could she possibly have been sleeping? An hour, a day, a year? A year sounded good. Wouldn’t her heartache have healed on its own in that amount of time? Liv took a sip and burned the roof of her mouth. “Ow. Crap. What time is it?”

“Almost four.”

“Huh.” That left very few daylight hours, and then she could legitimately go back to sleep. “What year?”

“Cute. Why didn’t you tell me you were in love with him?”

Liv’s mouth fell open, and she snapped it shut. There was no way Katie could know that. “I never said I was in love with him.”

Of course she was in love with him. What other possible reason could there be to panic-lie about your ex?

“Mm-hmm. So your eyes are puffy and red from, what, an eyelash?”

“If you say I told you so, I’ll disown you.”

Katie swept up a lock of Liv’s hair and looped it around her finger, then let it fall loose. “I’d never say that. But did you not understand the definition of rebound sex? When you’re done, you’re supposed to lounge in bed because you’re too sore to move, not too heartbroken to get up. Seriously, Livvy. You’re not supposed to fall in love with the rebound guy!” She slapped her hands on the bed, as if Liv had made a conscious decision to be an idiot.

Liv lowered her coffee just long enough to glare at her. “How is this different than I told you so?”

“Sorry.”

Liv took another long sip and sighed, before filling Katie in on everything. All the good parts she’d left out before, when they’d talked about the incredible sex like that was all that mattered. She recounted all the sweetness, all the times he’d seemed genuinely interested in her as a person, as an artist and a photographer. From that first day at Matt’s house during the storm, right through to the moment outside when he’d said goodbye.

Katie was silent for a few moments. “He’s just a big, beefy jerk. But there’s one bit of good news from all of this.”