“That’s funny,” he replies even though neither of us are even smiling. “You dated a long time?”
“Oh yeah. We dated through the end of high school and all through college. Then we moved in together, and I…well, it all fell apart.”
“He looks like a dickhead.”
“He is a dickhead,” I agree. “So is she. A gold-digging dickhead. They deserve each other.”
“I didn’t recognize her at first. It just didn’t make sense that after all these years she would be right there standing in front of me with another man and fucking pregnant.”
“Now you know why Ellie finally asked for a divorce.”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” he says with a sigh. “You two sort of look alike.”
“Sort of, but I’m just half a foot shorter, uglier and dorkier.”
“You’re not uglier,” he tells me softly. “But you are definitely smaller and dorkier.”
“Ellie was Miss Teen USA, and I didn’t even make it on the homecoming court in high school!”
“You’re a better person than her, even if you are a sneaky little bitch,” he replies. “Guess this is my own fault for asking to tag along. You did try and talk me out of it.”
“You were persistent.”
“I was. I admit it. So, I guess I’ll bring down that one hundred to a fifty on the anger scale.”
“Nice. That’s much better.” Being a fifty on a scale of ten still sounds like he’s done with me.
“Now what are we gonna do?” Nash asks.
“Whatever you want to do.”
“I’m exhausted, but I could eat something.”
“I, ah, I do have a room back at the resort if you want to crash there tonight and then leave tomorrow. We could get room service to make sure we don’t run into them again tonight.”
“Okay,” Nash agrees when he gets to his feet.
“I’ll sleep on the floor tonight.”
“That’s where dogs belong,” he says with a slight smirk on his lips. “First, I guess we need to give the demolition guy all his shit back.”
“That would probably be best.”
Chapter Seventeen
Nash
* * *
Lucy and I made it to her hotel room with our luggage without seeing anyone in the ‘wedding party’, for which I was thankful. There was food eaten, but I don’t exactly remember what I put in my mouth since my head is still in a fog.
I wasn’t prepared to do this – to see Ellie again, especially not the weekend of her fucking wedding.
In fact, I was looking forward to spending what could be my last days of freedom with Lucy more than anything before it all blew up in my face.
She’s known who I am this entire time. No fucking wonder why being with Lucy felt familiar. Not only did she know about my past with Ellie, but she’s fucking related to my ex-wife!
I’m so furious with Lucy I can’t breathe!
Or maybe I’m mostly pissed at Ellie for moving on with her life without me, as if I don’t matter, making me think she never loved me.
I’m angry at both of them, and the fat tub of lard Ellie’s marrying. The guy who hurt and betrayed Lucy. What a dick.
Thinking of how distraught I was the past few years, wondering if Ellie was coming back and what I did to deserve her abandonment, I can somewhat sympathize with Lucy and understand her motives.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Lucy had no ill-intentions when she showed up in Carolina Beach seeking me out.
And honestly, I don’t know what I would’ve done without her the last few weeks. If she hadn’t forced her way into my life, I would probably still be passed out in my apartment drunk.
Still, there’s a lot of shit to think about, and I need time to wrap my head around everything before I can forgive her. Lucy, that is. There is no forgiving Ellie.
I’m still completely zoned out, lost in my thoughts sitting in one of the room chairs when Lucy finally comes out of the bathroom after the longest shower or bath in history. She goes over to the bed and removes one of the pillows, then tosses it down on the floor. After that, she grabs a blanket from the closet and says, “Sorry about everything. Good night.”
“Night,” I mutter half-heartedly.
Only when she disappears on the other side of the bed do I realize she was serious about sleeping on the floor and didn’t realize that I was just joking.
“Get up, Lucy,” I order her.
Her head pops up above the mattress. “What?”
“I’m not going to let you sleep on the floor all night.”
“You should have the bed. I’ll be fine down here,” she tells me before her head ducks back down.
The chance of me sleeping tonight is slim to none whether it’s in this chair or in the bed. There’s no point in her being uncomfortable, even if she does deserve it for lying to me.
“Lucy, get your ass in the bed!” I shout at her.
“No,” comes her quiet refusal.
Sighing, I get to my feet and trudge around the bed to her. Her hair is pulled back and her face is clean of makeup, making her look even younger and more innocent, even though I know it’s a bullshit illusion.
Bending down, I scoop her up in my arms, blanket and all, and then drop her on the mattress before retrieving her pillow, tossing it at her face.
“You shouldn’t have to sleep beside someone you hate,” she tells me softly, still hiding behind the pillow.
“I don’t hate you,” I reply, and it’s the truth. I could never hate her no matter what she did. I don’t even hate Ellie for hurting me, up and leaving without a word the same way my parents did. The most fucked-up part is that she knew how the shit from my past tore me up and still she did it anyway. Hate is too strong a word for her. I hated Ellie’s decision, her stupid ass choices. If she wasn’t happy with me, she should’ve just told me so before leaving, let me know it was over. Maybe she did in her own way and I just wasn’t paying attention. I never really thought the two of us would work out, not when Ellie was from a wealthy family and I was broke as fuck back then. The money I have now is mostly earned illegally, which I doubt she would have tolerated…
“Are you gonna sleep in the bed too?” Lucy asks, putting the pillow behind her head and watching me. I know if I don’t, my rejection will sting her badly.
“Yeah, I am,” I reply. My day has been too shitty to sleep in a chair or on the floor. May as well enjoy as many comforts as I can now before I lose them.
Once I remove my cut and shoes, I turn off the lights and climb in bed in my t-shirt and boxer briefs but keep every inch on my side, careful not to touch her. It’s not that I don’t want to. Even pissed a part of me would love to kiss Lucy and lose myself inside of her to forget about this fucked-up day and make shit okay between us. But being a suspect for murder and finally facing my ex-wife, who has moved on, has put a damper on everything.
That first one, the life prison sentence, is the main thing that has me keeping my hands to myself.
It wouldn’t be fair to Lucy to sleep with her this weekend, knowing I won’t see her again once we get back home. I hate it; but in the long run, Lucy will be glad she didn’t fuck a killer.