“Hell no.” She spoke with unwavering conviction. “But seeing him was kind of…I don’t know…depressing, I guess? It reminded me of all the time I invested in the relationship. All the time I wasted.”
“There’s no such thing as a waste of time.” AJ shrugged. “The way I see it, everything we do, every decision we make, good or bad, is just a learning opportunity.”
“Yeah, well, I learned never to trust men with dimples.”
He grinned at her, and the dimple in his chin popped out as if on cue. “Aw. You don’t trust me, angel?”
“Not in the slightest,” she said cheerfully. “You’re an evil man who does evil things to my body.”
“Ha. You like it. Scratch that—you love it.” His teasing expression shifted back to curiosity. “So what kind of horrendous things did this Troy do to you?”
“At the beginning? Nothing. I was head over heels in love with him. He was fun and adventurous and made me laugh. We had a ton in common—he’s a tattoo artist, too. A ridiculously talented one.” She frowned. “At least when he bothers to show up for work.”
“A bum, huh?” AJ said as they headed down the next aisle.
“Naah, just a guy who likes to have a good time.” Sighing, she tossed two packages of linguine into the cart. “He wasn’t the greatest influence on me. If he wanted to close the bar on a Monday night, I’d be right there with him. If he felt like blowing off work for a couple of days and driving up to Maine for a spontaneous beach trip, I was like, sign me up.” Another breath slipped out, this one heavy with regret. “When I’m in a relationship, I give it everything I have. I work so hard to make the other person happy.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“It is when you’re the one making all the compromises.” She stopped in the frozen-food aisle. “And it’s even worse when you do it against your better judgment. I mean, I knew I shouldn’t have been out at the bar when I had to be up early the next morning, but I couldn’t say no to Troy. He was addictive.”
AJ sidled up to her as she started piling cartons of ice cream into the cart. “So how did it end?”
She was grateful for the cold air shivering out of the freezer, because her cheeks had gone hot with embarrassment. “We were at a pub, and Troy picked a fight with some guy who wouldn’t give up the pool table. It escalated real fast, and the owner called the cops. They ended up taking me in, too.”
“Shit,” AJ murmured.
Brett pretended to focus on a shelf of frozen veggies so she wouldn’t have to look at him. “My dad had to bail me out.” She nearly choked on the shame lining her throat. “It was mortifying. That’s when I realized I couldn’t have someone like Troy in my life. It didn’t matter how much fun we had together. He wasn’t good for me. So I ended it. And then, a few weeks later, I found out from a friend that he’d been cheating on me the entire time we were together.”
AJ whistled under his breath. “Sounds like a real prince. And he came by to see you today?”
“Yep.”
“Man. I can see why you’re in a bad mood.”
“More like a sad mood.” She turned away from the freezer and examined the cart. She’d gotten everything she’d needed, and as she and AJ headed for the checkout line, she glanced over with a dry look. “I’m betting there aren’t any stories like that in your dating history.”
“No,” he confessed. “The girls I’ve dated have been pretty wholesome. You know, the type you can bring home to mom.”
His words evoked a spark of hurt, even though she knew it wasn’t a specific dig at her. Yes, he’d met her family, but that was because they were putting on a show for them. There was no reason for Brett to meet his parents.
Except…she suspected that even if they had an official relationship, he still wouldn’t take her to meet them. She was the furthest thing from wholesome. Hell, she’d literally chased someone out of a grocery aisle five minutes ago.
“What are your parents like?” She halted five feet from the line so they were out of earshot of the other customers.
Uneasiness creased his features, the way it always seemed to do when he mentioned his family. He’d told her about his brother dying, but other than that, she had no idea what his family life was like.
“They’re…nice,” he said vaguely. “But very traditional about some things.”
“Like what?”
“You know, marriage, kids, white picket fences. They’ve been married for forty years, and honestly? They really do have the perfect relationship. They hardly ever fight, they tell each other everything, they’re madly in love.” He paused, a faraway light in his eyes. “They want the same thing for me. They want me to be smart and successful, marry the perfect woman, have perfect children.”
Brett carefully edged in. “Like I said last week, perfection doesn’t exist.”
“Tell that to them.” No mistaking the bitterness hardening his features.
And the…guilt?
God, sometimes it was impossible to read this man.
“But what about what you want?” she pointed out. “I mean, it’s nice that they want all these things for you, but do you want to get married and have kids?”
“Sure. One day.” His jaw tensed, and then he corrected himself. “No, I want it now.”
Brett raised her eyebrows. “Really?”
With a pained expression, he curled his hands over the metal edge of the cart. “Really. That’s what I’m looking for in my next relationship—someone who’s ready to settle down.”
The sting returned, which only added to her confusion. The reminder that she wasn’t in a relationship with AJ troubled her more than she wanted to admit, but not as much as the conflicting emotions flashing on his face. He was deeply upset, yet she couldn’t figure out why.
And his next revelation just made her head spin harder.
“Look, I owe it to them, okay?”
Brett didn’t get a chance to respond. He was already gone, steering the cart toward the line. The elderly woman ahead of them had just paid for her groceries, which meant they were next in line, leaving Brett no opportunity to question him.
She swallowed her distress and impatience as they rang the groceries through, but the second they stepped outside, she couldn’t hold back any longer.
“What do you mean, you owe it to them?”
AJ didn’t meet her eyes as he unlocked the Jeep. A second later, he was loading the bags in the back, acting like she wasn’t even there.
But Brett refused to let it go.
“What did you mean by that?” she demanded, scrambling into the passenger’s seat as AJ started the car. “Why exactly do you think you owe your parents something?”
A groove appeared in his forehead. Slowly, he glanced over, acknowledging her presence.
“Why?” she pressed.
His voice came out in an angry rush. “Because I’m the reason their son died.”
Chapter Eleven
Christ. The last thing AJ wanted to do was bare his soul in the parking lot of a Fresh Mart, but once the confession flew out, he couldn’t take it back.