6
“Huh?” Tessa asked, truly confused. She’d had a horrible day at work where she’d wanted to quit more than once. Now, instead of heading home to curl into her couch and maybe even help Murphy if he needed it, she was standing in front of a café in downtown Denver, being dumped.
Like, what the fuck?
“You seem to be a wonderful person, Tessa, but it’s just not working for me.” Brent shifted from foot to foot, looking seriously stressed out and nervous. What did he have to be nervous about? It wasn’t as if she would hit him for dumping her or anything, but it sure as hell looked as if he were ready to duck from an impending fist.
“And you couldn’t have called me? You made me come all the way down here—after work, mind you—so you can say it’s over? I mean…” So, apparently, she wasn’t angry that he didn’t want to be with her anymore, but more that she’d had to drive twenty minutes through traffic to be dumped. At least, she had her priorities straight.
Brent looked pained. “I didn’t want to be rude, but I can see now that I went about this wrong.” He ran a hand over his face, looking less put-together than she’d ever seen him. “I thought doing it face-to-face would work.”
“Okay, then. Well, I’m sorry this didn’t work out. I hope you find who you’re looking for.” There, she was civil. It wasn’t as if she had been truly invested in the relationship anyway, and she figured that was part of the problem. She’d been stringing him along because she’d thought he might be good for her. But in the end, she’d been wrong.
“Uh…thanks. I guess I just couldn’t deal with all the men in your life.” He winced again. “Uh…I’ve got to go. Bye.” He fled, leaving Tessa standing behind him like she’d just been slapped.
Men? What men were in her life? She didn’t have any brothers, and she’d never introduced Brent to her family. Sure, she lived with Murphy now, but it had been Brent’s idea in the first place.
She didn’t have a man in her life. Brent had sort of been it.
Someone bumped into her from behind and kept going, practically knocking her to the ground. She couldn’t see his or her face since they had their head down, and their hoodie up, but it didn’t matter. Now she was just annoyed.
This week seriously sucked, and she wanted nothing to do with Brent or being out in the real world any more that night.
Screw Brent.
And screw thinking she could make a relationship work. She was better off with her hand and ice cream to make her feel better.
The next morning, she somehow found an empty parking meter off 16th St. Mall and filled it with as much change as she could find in her center console. She’d promised she’d meet up with Liz and the girls at a café called Taboo downtown. It was owned by one of Maya’s friends, and even had a connecting door to Montgomery Ink, the tattoo shop that Maya owned with her brother, Austin.
Normally, Tessa wouldn’t want to drive all the way downtown just for lunch on a weekend when there were plenty of good places near where they all lived, but since Maya had to work that day, it made sense. She did find it a little weird that she was starting to spend so much time with not only Maya but Blake, as well. But since Liz was marrying into the family, Tessa supposed this wasn’t going to be a short-lived thing. At least Liz included her in her new life and these new connections. She could have put Tessa in her own separate bubble, and things could have still worked out. However, Tessa was starting to become friends with Blake and Maya on her own, and was coming to enjoy these lunches.
Of course, since all of them were now married or engaged to Gallaghers, it was still a little weird. She was living with a Gallagher but not actually seeing him. With the way meals and outings were evolving, Tessa and Murphy were constantly being thrown together in weird eighth and ninth-wheel situations that made things a little complicated. Or maybe it was just convoluted because she kept picturing Murphy naked.
She really needed to stop doing that.
Tessa had almost made it to the door of Taboo when she froze.
“It can’t be,” she whispered, her hands shaking. “It can’t.”
But it was. Her ex-boyfriend and the star of her recurring nightmares stood on the other side of the street, waiting at the crosswalk so he could come her way. She wasn’t sure if he’d seen her, but she could damn well see him and wanted to find a place to hide. As hiding wasn’t her style, that thought just made her even angrier.
How dare he be allowed to walk around as if he hadn’t done what he did? As if he hadn’t hurt her and made her feel like she was worthless. And the crux of it all was that she hadn’t even noticed that he made her feel like crap until it was almost too late.
God, what was he doing here?
The light turned green, and he started to cross the street, so she ducked her head and quickly ran to Taboo, thankful that she had a place to go so she wouldn’t have to face him.
He’d almost broken her once. But because there hadn’t been any actual wrongdoing in the law’s eyes, he’d been allowed to freely walk about as if he hadn’t emotionally abused her…for years.
He’d hit her once, but that hadn’t been enough for the police. They’d asked her what she’d done to cause him to slap her, and she’d walked out, not bothering to follow up on the assault charge. It wasn’t as if they would do anything anyway.
She still regretted leaving the station as she had, but she couldn’t do anything about it now. She hadn’t seen her ex since that night, and had firmly put him out of her mind—or at least she had tried. Now, he was back in her thoughts and she couldn’t quite keep her stomach from rolling.
“Hey, you okay?” Liz asked, coming toward her. “What’s wrong?”
Tessa shook herself out of her thoughts, and gave her best friend a smile that she hoped reached her eyes. “I’m fine. Traffic, you know?”
Liz frowned, studying her face. “Uh-huh.”
“Seriously. I had to parallel park and everything. But I’m good now, and in the mood for a huge salad.” That much was true as Taboo had the best salads, soups, and sandwiches ever. The owner, Hailey, was a goddess when it came to food and drinks. If the woman ever opened up a full restaurant that served dinner, Tessa would probably gain twenty pounds from showing up every night.
“If you say so,” Liz said, not sounding convinced at all. That’s what happened when your best friend from college was still your best friend years later—you couldn’t hide anything.
Tessa linked elbows with Liz and led her to the corner booth where Maya and Blake were already seated. “Hey, ladies.”
“Hey, thanks for coming down here,” Maya said as she scooted over. “It’s just easier on a Saturday since we’re so busy over at the shop.”
Tessa sat down next to Maya as the two pregnant women sat in chairs across from them. Their bellies were starting to become a tighter fit, so Tessa didn’t blame them.
“It’s really okay, and I love the food.”
“That’s good to hear,” Hailey said as she walked over to them. She grinned, and it only made her more beautiful. With her blunt blonde bob and killer eyes, that was saying something. “I have fresh peach tea in the back if you’d like that today, or I can get you something else to drink while you all decide what you want for lunch.”
“Peach tea sounds amazing,” Tessa answered honestly.
“Hey, what did I say about you waiting on us?” Blake said from her seat. “We’re supposed to go up to the counter to order.”
“You’re my friends, so you’re going to have to deal with me serving you here. So suck it.” Hailey winked as she said it before heading back to the counter, and Tessa cracked up laughing. The other woman so did not look like those words would normally come out of her mouth, and Tessa loved it.
“So, do you want to tell me why you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Liz asked, leaning forward so she could see Tessa’s face better. Tessa had never been good at lying to her best friend, and today didn’t seem like the day she’d suddenly start.
Maya tilted her head and studied her, as well, and Blake moved forward a bit so they were all staring at her, waiting for her to break. Or speak, whatever. It sure felt like breaking sometimes.
“I saw my ex outside,” she said with a sigh. She didn’t want to say his name as if saying it would bring him back into her life. She was superstitious that way. “He was walking across the street, and I sort of flailed my way in here.
Liz’s eyes went wide while the other two women frowned. They didn’t know what had happened with him, and this wasn’t the place to get into it—if she told them at all.
“Are you okay?” Liz reached out and gripped her hand. Tessa gripped hers back before letting go so she could pretend she was relaxed.
“I’m fine. It just threw me for a loop.” Oddly enough, Maya and Blake didn’t ask for details like they normally would have, and Tessa was grateful for it. The women seemed to know that this was not a topic she particularly wanted to discuss now. Or ever.
“Do you need anything?” Liz asked, her voice low as Hailey came by with their drinks.
“I’m good.” Or she would be. “And thank you,” she said, smiling up at Hailey and hoping it looked genuine. It should be, considering she loved anything the other woman made, so she was truly excited about this peach iced tea and the massive salad she was about to order.
“You’re welcome,” Hailey said with a bright smile. “Okay, what can I get you guys?”
They ordered their food, making Tessa’s stomach growl when before, she hadn’t been sure she would be able to eat after seeing her ex. Hailey’s food and being surrounded by friends that cared about her would do that.
“So, anything new going on?” Blake asked, rubbing her slight baby bump. “Rowan is hanging out with Graham today, working on a science project, so I’m free to listen to gossip.” The other woman smiled. “I never used to have time for gossip.”
Maya’s eyes danced. “I always have time for gossip. It’s sort of my thing.”
“I would think with two men and a baby keeping you busy, you wouldn’t have that much time,” Tessa said dryly.
“Well, sometimes, Noah is sleeping, and it’s Border and Jake’s date night.” Maya winked, and Tessa laughed with the others. How Maya could handle both Border and Jake, Tessa didn’t know. But more power to her.
“Everyone take a moment to picture that,” Blake said dramatically. They held a moment of silence. “And that’s enough of that since we’re in public, but really, anything going on?”
Liz shook her head. “Owen and I have just been working and trying to figure out when we’re actually going to fit in a wedding while making the guest bedroom into the nursery.”
“I’d bet you that Owen has a list of lists for that particular endeavor,” Tessa said dryly.
“You wouldn’t be wrong.” Liz shook her head. “I think he’s more prepared for this bundle of joy than I am, so while I’m stressed as hell about being a mother and actually giving birth, I know I can lean on him for things at home.” Tessa ignored the slight twinge of envy at that. If anyone deserved this kind of happiness, it was Liz. “But as for the wedding? We honestly have no clue. I don’t have many people to invite since I don’t have a huge family.” Liz winced. “Okay, so I have Tessa…and that’s about it.”
Tessa rolled her shoulders back, pissed off at the world once again for what it had done to Liz. “And I’m all you need, thank you very much.”
“And you have the Gallaghers now,” Blake put in.
“And the Montgomerys,” Maya added. “I’d say if you want us, but first, why wouldn’t you want us, and second, we don’t really take no for an answer when it comes to invading your life. It’s sort of our MO.”
Liz wiped tears from her face, and Tessa moved to squeeze next to her best friend in the booth. “I have no idea why I’m crying.”
“Hormones.” The three of them spoke at once, and that sent all of them into peals of laughter.
“Truth.” Liz pulled out a tissue from her purse and wiped the rest of the tears from her face as one of Hailey’s part-time workers came around with their food. The place had gotten busy as they talked, and Hailey was stuck behind the counter doing forty things at once as usual.
They spoke as they ate, talking about their weeks and what they had coming up. When it was Tessa’s turn, she leaned back in her chair and frowned. “Brent broke up with me yesterday.”
“Are you serious?” Liz asked, her eyes wide. “And you’re just now telling us?”
“Are you okay?” Blake frowned and set her soup spoon down. “What happened?”
“I honestly have no idea. It was just weird, and it’s not as if we were serious. Hell, we made it a point to make sure the other person knew we were allowed to date other people—even though I didn’t. He might have for all I know.” She ran a hand over her face, annoyed all over again with how everything had worked out with him.
“Did you really like him?” Maya asked.
“I think I could have. Maybe.” Tessa let out a groan. “I think I wanted to. What kind of person does that make me?”
“Someone who was trying,” Liz said firmly. “Did he say anything when he did it? Or was it by text or something?”
Tessa rolled her eyes, annoyed all over again. “He made me meet him in front of that café he likes a couple blocks from here. After work. Just to say it wasn’t working.” She let out a small growl. “And then he had the nerve to say I had too many men in my life or some crock like that. First, he was the one who said ‘let’s take this slow and casual.’ Second, I wasn’t dating anyone else.”
Liz scowled. “You don’t think he was talking about Murphy, do you?”
Tessa shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe? I mean, it was his idea for Murphy to move in with me. And I’m not with Murphy. We’re just friends. Anyway, Brent made it sound like he was talking about more than just one man.” She pressed her lips together, trying to calm her breathing. “It didn’t make any sense, and yet somehow made me feel slutty.”
“Well, fuck him then,” Maya said simply. “He’s an asshole. A boring asshole. If he’s going to make you feel like a slut, then he can go fuck himself.”
“Exactly.” Blake raised her chin, her eyes blazing. “You two were casual and not ready to be serious yet. Even if you were dating twenty other men, so the fuck what? You never lied to him or kept things from him. Dull Brent can go jump off a bridge.”
Tessa snorted. “I see you’ve been talking to Murphy with that nickname?”
“It stuck,” Blake said with a shrug. “And I’m sorry he was a douche canoe.”
Tessa grinned at the term, feeling better now that she’d talked it over with her friends. “That is true. I guess this means I can date one of those forty men he thinks I’m with.”
The others laughed, and she joined in, knowing she needed to put Brent and her ex out of her mind. The only person she really wanted to talk to right then was Murphy so she could get his reaction to khakis-wearing Brent, but she refused to text him right then. He’d been sleeping when she finally got home the night before, exhausted from his treatment no doubt. And they hadn’t really spoken that morning except to talk about grocery shopping. She’d tell him when she got home and see what he thought.
She refused to dwell on the fact that she was now planning her time, thinking about Murphy being in her home with her and how she truly wanted to talk to him. That would go down a dangerous road that neither of them should be on.
No matter how much her subconscious apparently wanted it.