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“What was that?”
“Nothing, Mom,” I said a little louder. “Who did you meet?”
“Daniella!” she gushed, as if she hadn’t fed me the exact same story just a week ago. “Isn’t that funny? We bumped into each other at breakfast and got to talking.”
“Sounds nice,” I lied.
There was no world that existed where I wanted to hear about my ex-wife.
My mother, however, didn’t give a shit. “It was lovely; I’ve missed her so much.” She giggled, and I wanted to tell her that if she missed my ex that much,shecould marry her. “You should visit sometime. I know Dani would love to see you again.”
“Mom, we’ve been over this more times than I care to remember at this point,” I grumbled, glancing up as my door opened. Mia tiptoed in, two coffees in her hands. She nudged the door shut with her hip and walked forward. “We broke things off for a reason. And I’m still too busy with work, so I’m not interested in ‘patching things up’ when we’d both decided that splitting up was for the best.”
“But she feels differently, Reid,” my mom insisted, and I stifled the urge to hang up on her. “Things have changed and she really wants you to give her another chance.”
“First of all,” I interjected, gratefully accepting the coffee Mia held out. “If she really feels that way, she knows where to find me and should tell me herself. Secondly, nothing has changed because my schedule is still packed.”
“You’re just being stubborn,” she scoffed, and anger burned the back of my throat.
“No, I’m being realistic,” I spat. “I have to go. I have a meeting.”
She began to protest but I hung up, my teeth gnawing on the inside of my cheek in sheer frustration.
“Mama Voss again?” Mia guessed, and I nodded. “Is she still bugging you about your ex after all this time?”
“Every chance she gets,” I answered, gulping down the scalding coffee. “No matter how many times I shut it down, she’ll find new and more inventive ways to weave her into the conversation.”
Mia offered me an apologetic smile and I shrugged.
“I should be used to it, but it only irritates me more every single time.”
“You never really talk about her,” Mia pointed out. “Besides, she wasn’t exactly ‘wife of the year’. Why does your mom think you’d be interested in getting back together with her?”
It wasn’t something I enjoyed talking about at all, but Mia was different, and it was easier to talk to her about the shit that bugged me.
“My mom doesn’t know all the details,” I admitted.
“What do you mean?”
“She knows that Daniella cheated,” I explained, setting my empty cup on the desk next to my water glass. “But I never told herwhoshe’d cheated on me with.”
Mia’s face dropped. “Oh.”
“Ha! I imagine her reaction would be a little more visceral.” I chuckled. “And a part of me really wants to tell her because maybe then she’ll give up.”
I looked over at Mia, whose silence stretched on. Her eyes remained fixed on her fidgeting fingers, her bottom lip secure between her teeth.
“What’s up?”
She glanced up, a tiny crease forming between her brows.
“You never told me that part,” she said quietly.
“What? That she cheated with a friend of mine?” She nodded and I shrugged. “We don’t really talk anymore, so it hasn’t been a huge loss to me. It’s just draining when my mother insists I give Dani another chance.”
“I know it’s probably the last thing you want to hear,” Mia started, but I held up a hand to stop her.
“It really is.” I sighed, and then smiled. “But I appreciate it anyway.”
