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“You don’t mind, do you?” I look back at her. I didn’t catch half of what she said. “I had him first, after all.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I want to go into a complete rage, grab her head, and smash it into the mirror until it shatters.
She jerks back, thinking I wouldn’t ever talk back to her.
“What did I ever do to you?” I get in her face. Cera is all talk and has never been one of action unless it was the little catty bitch things she did to bully people. “I think it’s time for you to finally grow the fuck up, get over yourself, and quit belittling others to only make yourself look stupid. Why don’t you try to find someone who hasgotto be out there who wants to make your cunt ass happy rather than trying to intrude in other people’s lives?” There’s just one more thing I need to say. My hair flies over my shoulder as I glare over. “Oh, and by the way, your name is pronounced Cera,” I say it slowly. “Not Cara, you dumbass.”
Shoving past her, I leave Cera in a shocked state. Swinging the door open, I hope it’ll hit her.
There’s no such luck.
Instead, I’m greeted by Chase waiting on the other side. Head held up with pride, I level a look at him, trying to remind myself none of this is his fault. “I’m ready to go now.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chase
The moment Cera stepped into my line of sight, I could smell the desperation in the form of that shit cats spray to mark their territory encroach on me. It wasn’t coming from Angie because the instant the wicked witch of my ex-girlfriends past showed her face to me, the woman I was doing my best to enjoy the evening with bolted.
Not that Cera took notice of Angie practically sprinting away like I did, wishing I had gotten the sense quick enough to go with her. If she did, she didn’t bother to acknowledge it. She took it upon herself to take over my girl’s seat, flicked her hair over her shoulder, and acted like it was a date meant for her and Angie was just a place saver.
No way was I going to let her ruin any more of my evening. After listening to her for about thirty seconds, I shut that shit down.
“Cera.”
“… after all, we had such a great time in high school.”Her hair, far more bleach blond than it was, flipped over her other shoulder like she couldn’t decide what side to have it on. There wasn’t a memory coming to me where she didn’t ever do it.Must be a twitch of nervous or possibly she’s just so vapid, she can’t stay focused on something that isn’t her looks for too long?
“Cera.”I tried again.
“It’s so crazy you’re back in town. I just recently broke up with my boyfriend—”
“Cera, will you shut your inflamed mouth for one goddamn minute and fucking listen?”I all but snarled at her.
It did the trick; not in closing her mouth, but it kept her from letting any more words fall out. Her over-glittered eyes were far too wide for her hollowed-out, near-starved-looking face.
“Whatever messed-up idea you’re thinking is a fucked-up reality you need to quit living in.”The index finger of my right hand tapped the table a little too aggressively as I continued.“I broke up with you because of what you thought would be best for me like you had a goddamn future with me.”
“I thought—”
“Wrong.”I had cut her off. No way was I going to let her say a single word until I finished.“You were a lay I had more than most while we were in school, but you were always a bitch and trying to change me. That’s why I ended things, and that’s why I don’t give a shit about anything you have to say now.”
“I’ve changed.”She was still snarky. Some people change after a decade, and some of the exes I saw tonight are proof of that, but not Cera. Not ever.
“You haven’t. The shit you just pulled with Angelica proves that. I see her, not you. No one sees you because you’re a star that’s already gone out, and now you’re trying to suck others shining around you into your black hole.”
I stood and dropped my napkin on the table. I didn’t know about Angie, but I was done eating for the night. There wasn’t anything else I had to say to Cera either. She can go piss up a pole for all I cared. I walked away from the disaster I wanted for Angie’s and my first date and headed over to pay and then collect my girl.
Now, standing here at the bathroom door, I wish I would have gone after Angie instead of shutting down Cera. Walking away from the bitch would have been a great impact. I can hear muffled voices in there and can almost clearly make out Angie’s angry voice. She’s barely containing her emotions in there.
Just when I’m about to open the door and rush in to help—lady’s room or not be damned—it swings open, and I come face-to-face with an emotional and angry Angelica.
For a split second, I glance over her shoulder to see Cera slack-jawed and disbelief decorating her face. Throwing in my own glare at her, I swing a protective arm around Angie and don’t make her tell me twice that she’s ready to leave.
She’s nearly freezing, adding more to my concern to get her out of here and in a place we can truly be alone. There are no words to describe how pissed off I am right now. Just when I thought something great was coming my way, my past came back to bite not only me in the ass but Angie as well.
So much for being romantic.
Keeping my snort of disbelief to myself, I guide her back out to my truck. It isn’t an easy task; her feet are near dragging, dangling there with every lift of one of her legs to move forward. A feeling of not knowing the full truth of whatever Cera has put my girl through in the past overflows around us.
