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Mel snapped her fingers. "There you go then, that's his problem. Anyway, he should be more focused on your personality than your looks. And so should you."
That was easy for her to say. Her hair was naturally wheat blonde. Her eyes were the kind of brilliant blue people stopped to stare at. Or into.
Her figure, well, let's just say I'd have killed to look like her.
"You should be modelling bikinis," I said.
"Not a chance," she replied immediately. "Besides, I won't fit into them for much longer."
It took me a moment to grasp her meaning.
"Wait, you're pregnant?"
She looked smug. "Yep. My and the mister finally managed to put a bun in the oven."
I stepped over to hug her. "Congratulations. And here I was, going on about my problems."
Mel shrugged one shoulder and pressed her hand to her belly. "It's all good. You needed to talk. We have six months to talk about this."
I smiled, but inside her good news was another reminder of how much I lost because of Kris and his wayward dick. In a way, he did us a favour. Better he cheat now than years from now, when we had kids and wedding bands. That would have been three thousand, seven hundred and twenty-two times worse.
If not more.
"You'll find a better guy," Mel said. "One like my mister. He knows if he cheats, I'll cut off his dick with a pair of blunt scissors and feed it to crocodiles."
"That's very specific," I said.
"I've had a lot of time to think about it," she said. "After the first time, I made it clear I wouldn't stand for a guy like that again. Besides, he likes my cooking."
"Maybe that's where I went wrong," I said. "I can't cook for nuts. Except toast and coffee."
"At least you can cook the classics," Mel said. "Derek can't even do those. Last time he tried, he almost burnt the place down." She laughed.
After a moment, so did I. Then my phone pinged.
CHAPTER 6
CHASE
"Thanks for meeting with me." I glanced toward Ashley, then down at my shoes.
They might be a metaphor for my love life. Well trodden, like Brandi trod all over my heart.
Truth was, they were comfortable and I needed something comfortable right now. I let Brandi go as graciously as I could, but I was pissed as hell on the inside.
I thought we had something great going on. Not 'run out and buy a ring right now' great, but maybe in a year or two. I'd pictured us some day with a few kids, maybe a house out in the country. A horse and some pigs. Okay, maybe a cat. Brandi wasn't one for getting dirt under her manicured nails.
"Yeah. Is everything okay?" Ashley also had neat nails, but short and painted a soft pink. Subtle, like her make up. Her skirt and blouse were flattering on her slim figure, but without showing a ton of skin. They left something to my imagination.
What caught my attention right now were her eyes. I hadn't noticed before, but they were hazel. That word didn't do them justice. They were really green on the inside, with a rim of brownish gold.
"Yeah, kinda." I gestured toward a booth and looked at her questioningly. When she nodded, I slid into the seat opposite and set my beer down in front of me.
"I figured I'd see if you're all right," I said. "And… I don't know… you get it, y'know?"
She twirled her wine glass slowly with her fingertips. "Yes, I do know," she said. "They did it to us."
"Right." Plenty of the guys on the team were cheated on in the past. We tended to attract partners who weren't into us as people, they just wanted to share the spotlight. That didn't make for lasting relationships. A few found good women. Hawk, for example. He and Bec were as loved up a couple as I'd ever seen. They were good for each other, united by the love of all things geeky. They'd probably name all their kids after superheroes or something. Cute, but not my jam.
