“Nice.” He smiled at her, then glanced at me, giving me a wink before fixing his attention back on the game and the commentary from the guys.
Maren looked up from her purse and paused for a second, lowering her voice and talking between her teeth as she leaned in close so only I could hear her. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Who?” I asked, looking past Dev out into the bar. There was a beautiful woman walking toward us. She was Indian and stunning.
“I’ve only seen pictures, but I think that’s—”
“Trupti?” Dev asked when she reached our table. He looked dumbfounded. “What are you doing here?”
Trupti. Holy shit. I never thought I’d actually meet her in person.
And following close behind her was, of all people, Craig from the ski resort. My bottom lip dropped as I took in the sight of him. He wrapped his arm around her and nodded to Dev.
“’Sup, man, good to see you up and about. Foot heal okay?”
Dev’s nostrils flared as he studied Craig standing with Trupti.
“Um, what’s this?” Dev asked, motioning between Craig and Trupti. Trupti flipped her hair behind her shoulder and leaned into Craig, who wrapped his arm around her.
“Oh, didn’t you know? Craig and I are seeing each other.”
“You’re joking,” Dev said, his lungs heaving. And my heart sank as I watched him, clearly jealous, get visibly upset at the sight of Trupti with someone else. I knew he didn’t like Craig, but this was much more of a reaction than I would have ever expected. I mean, he was with me, we were happy. He said he didn’t want to be with Trupti anymore…
“We reconnected a few weeks ago,” Trupti said, gloating.
“I was in the city a few weeks ago and I saw her across a crowded room, just like the movies,” Craig said, sounding like a total idiot.
“And you just happened to come here,” Dev said, his chest still heaving. He looked like steam was going to come out his ears. And the worst thing was, he wouldn’t look at me. His eyes never left Trupti. Maren could feel my stress and squeezed my leg. We looked at one another, and she pressed her lips into a thin line, offering me solidarity.
She knows how fucked up this is too.
And how embarrassing.
For a guy who literally just asked me to be his girlfriend earlier that day, he was awfully transfixed on his ex. That was, until his phone buzzed.
“It’s work; I have to take this,” he said, glaring at them before pressing the phone to his ear and walking outside.
“Oh my God, Lyra, it’s you!” Craig said, walking around the table to stand next to me. “I didn’t see you there. I forgot you know Dev.”
“Lyra?” Trupti said, her eyes like daggers before she turned to look toward the front door of the bar where Dev stood. “Ahh, the work calls. How I remember those.” She used finger quotation marks around the word work. “I have to use the restroom. Want to find a table, Craig?”
“Sure, babe. So, Lyra, how’s it going?” Craig asked.
“Fine,” I said, feeling haunted by Trupti’s reference to the work phone calls and remembering Craig’s insistence that Dev was a player. I felt like the walls were closing in on me as their words bounced around my brain. Maren could feel it too. She squeezed my leg again and interjected.
“Craig, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Maren, Lyra’s best friend.”
“Oh, hey. Lyra and I met at the resort when Dev took a spill and broke his little ankle.”
“He sprained it,” Peter said, glaring at Craig. “And this place is filling up; you should probably find a table. It’d be a shame if you had to go somewhere else.”
“Or would it?” Scott muttered under his breath. And if I hadn’t been on the verge of a panic attack, I’d want to laugh and kiss them both. But I was too consumed by my own insecurities to pull myself out of my funk.
“Message received,” Craig said, shaking his head. “Have a good night.”
He walked away and Scott jumped to his feet. “I’m getting us another round. Maybe two.”
“Make that three,” I said with a sigh, staring at the door. Dev was still outside, only now he was no longer alone.
Trupti was there too.
Fuck me.
Chapter 23
DEV
I really didn’t want to answer that call. But Noah from Switzerland was in a complete panic, as one of their software systems was glitching pretty badly. I needed to walk him through the protocol. So, I sucked it up, compartmentalized my personal shit for five minutes and calmed him down, getting his system back online.
“Thank you, Dev,” he said once everything was working properly again. “Sorry to bother you again. I know my co-worker just called you three days ago.”
“Hey, it’s my job. Now, go take a deep breath, maybe get a cup of coffee.”
“Good idea.”
“Maybe some decaf,” I said with a forced laugh before ending the call. Placing my phone in the pocket of my jeans, I inhaled the cool Seattle air into my lungs, trying to wrap my mind around Trupti showing up with Craig on her freaking arm.
I was over Trup, I was. One hundred fucking percent. But something wasn’t sitting right with me. Either they’d legitimately been seeing each other or it was a desperate attempt to get my attention. Either way, it worked. She had my full undivided attention, and I hated her for it.
I turned to walk to the door just as Trupti walked out of the bar, a smug look on her face. I used to think Trupti was the most beautiful woman in the world. But I didn’t see that anymore. I saw arrogance, I saw ugliness. I saw a person I barely recognized.
“Another work call, huh? Who was it this time? London? Paris?”
“What do you want, Trup?” I asked, shaking my head in disgust.
“Oh just thought we should have a little chat.”
“About?”
“Us.”
“There is no us, Trupti, for fuck’s sake!”
“Bullshit, I saw the look on your face when you saw Craig. You’re jealous.”
“No.” I shook my head vehemently. “Don’t confuse disgust with jealousy.”
“Dev, come on. We belong together.”
“You’re delusional. I’m in love with Lyra.”
Holy shit. That’s the first time I said that out loud.
“What?” Trupti looked like she’d swallowed poison. Her nose flared and her cheeks turned bright red as she stared at me in shock.
“I do. I love her. And I’m over you. I’ve been over you for a while now. I’m sorry. I know that must hurt, but—”
“I fucked Craig.”
“What?”
“Right before I broke up with you. At the Christmas party two years ago…just like you thought.”
“What?”
“We fucked in your office. On your desk, actually.”
“What the fuck did you just say?” I yelled, rage building in my chest.
A creepy-as-fuck smile crawled across Trupti’s face. Apparently she got the reaction she hoped for. “I cheated on you. And I ended things because of it. Things fizzled back then, but I decided to give him a call a few weeks ago. And it’s just as good as I remembered it. Although, I do miss that desk…”