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Oh crap.
She thought about what Dex had said in front of her father. The one word she’d never heard from a man. The one word Brad had never used…
We.
He’d wanted to help. Tackle life and her shop and everything as a team.
She did love Dex. That brutish man with a wicked smile and even more wicked mind totally had her swooning.
“Love or not, we don’t belong together,” Michelle said.
“Says who?” Natalie asked.
“Uh, everyone. His mom hates me. My parents hate him. And I messed up, Nat. Bad. I should have stood up for him, for us.”
“So, isn’t your daddy hating the bad boy you’re dating part of the thrill?”
Yeah it was, but that was just it. Dex wasn’t a bad-boy cliché. He was…more. He was special and kind and funny. But that’s how he was seen. The bad boy. The party guy. The fun time. And that’s what she’d used him for.
“I messed up,” Michelle said again. “I can’t ask him to forgive me for what I did.”
And he was done with her now, anyway. This wasn’t some sappy love story. There would be no grand gesture to fix this.
“I think he messed up, too,” Natalie said. “But the great thing about messing up is that you get messy.”
Michelle frowned. Getting messy was fun. It was something she and Dex did really well.
Natalie held her friend’s hand. “It’s up to you how you want to go about this, but no matter what, you have to realize what you want. And the kind of woman you want to be. If Dex doesn’t bring out that woman, then it’s best he’s gone. But if he does bring out that woman… If he helps you be the woman you want to be…” Natalie swiped a finger of frosting off the cupcake. “Then that sounds like something worth fighting for.”
Michelle let out a heavy exhale. There wasn’t much she could do beyond scarf down more chocolate and wallow. Not when he was gone. Not when she’d all but told him he wasn’t good enough for her and never would be.
Except that wasn’t true. Not at all.
He wasn’t just good for her. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
She loved him.
“I know you’re a pain in the ass, but I never thought you were a full-fledged asshole,” East said, walking up to the rec center with Dex. They were set to teach survival training soon. East was doing medic and CPR training, and all Dex could think about was the click of the restaurant door he’d walked out of last night.
“What are you talking about?” Dex asked.
“I’m talking about your woman. I heard her basically kick her parents out of the restaurant last night, then call you a million times.”
“I’m not taking calls right now,” Dex said.
“Yeah, which makes you either an asshole or a pissy twelve-year-old that doesn’t know how to handle your shit.”
“I’m handling my shit just fine,” he said. “This isn’t your business.”
“Maybe not, but someone needs to tell you when you’re being stupid. Which is what you’re being. That woman loves you. Yeah, she made a mistake. But guess what? People mess up. Did you get a look at her parents? Shit, I froze with terror staring down her dad. Can you imagine growing up with that?”
No, Dex couldn’t. Because their lives were different. Which was something that’d grown increasingly clear over the last several weeks. And it wasn’t just her parents. Michelle had said he was nothing. Yeah, she’d left messages trying to explain that’s not what she’d meant, but it still fucking sucked. She’d almost looked angry at him. Like he was trying to take something from her, when he was just trying to help.
“Natalie filled me in a little,” East offered. “You know that the dick Michelle was with before she moved here basically controlled her. Then dumped her when she finally tried to do something for herself.” East shook his head. “Between city-tight-ass parents and an emotionally abusive relationship, it’s no wonder that woman fights so hard for her life.”
That made Dex stop. His stomach twisted, because East’s story sounded awful. Awful that Michelle had to deal with that. Was still dealing with it. And it clicked now why she snapped at him when he’d said, “we.” She was trying to stand up for herself to her father, and he’d swooped in and made it about them instead of about her.
“She ran after you last night at the restaurant,” East said.
