Chapter 5
My phone wouldn’t stop ringing on the drive.
Lincoln. Over and over.
“Nina, what the hell is this? Who said you could break up with me?”
“We’re adults! Stop being so childish!”
“Chelsea and I had a bottle of wine at her place last night. We got drunk, one thing led to another… it just happened, okay? Total accident. Nobody’s fault.”
“I didn’t mean to cheat! That wine hit way harder than I thought!”
“Do you really have to blow this up and make everyone look bad?”
“Chelsea already said she doesn’t need me to feel guilty! She admires me. She’s willing to stay in the background without a title. Why can’t you just be more understanding?”
“Honestly, one guy with two women? That’s not even unusual anymore. And it’s not like I can’t afford both of you!”
“I’m a successful man! Don’t I deserve to enjoy what I’ve earned? Multiple women included?”
“If you break up with me just to spite me, you’re gonna regret it! I’m the best man you’ll ever meet in your entire life!”
Every word out of his mouth made him sound less like a human and more like trash.
His voice was loud. I knew Maverick could hear everything.
I felt humiliated.
Like someone just found out you once stepped in dog poo.
Maverick noticed my expression,
The car just stopped at a red light. He gestured for me to hand him the phone,
For some reason, I did.
“Nina’s gonna meet someone a hell of a lot better than you. Exhibit A: me.”
Maverick’s voice was calm, but razor-sharp.
“You’ll Regret Leaving Mel’-Poor Thing. You Still Think You Matter? I Already Married Better!
3.1%
Chapter 5
“We’re going to date. Fall in love. Get married.”
“So I hope you can be a decent ex-boyfriend.”
“How decent? Act like you’re dead. Because to her? You already are.”
He hung up and handed my phone back.
The light turned green. We merged onto the highway.
Lincoln kept calling. I didn’t pick up. I put my phone on silent.
So he switched to bombing me with voice messages.
“Nina, you’ve got some nerve! Did you hire an actor just to piss me off?”
“I’m warning you-don’t let this fake thing turn real!”
“Some mistakes men can make. Women can’t!”
“You’re not gonna sleep with some random guy just to get back at me, are you?”
“DON’T!!!”
“If you sleep with him, you’re dead to me! You hear me? DEAD!”
“I won’t let you destroy yourself like some cheap slut!”
I thought about turning my phone off. Then I realized-blocking him was better.
Finally. Silence.
“Maverick… thank you.”
“Just one thing I’m curious about… how’d you get my place so fast?”
Even if my mom gave him my address, it still didn’t make sense.
Home was over 500 miles away. Even by plane it’s a two-hour trip,
“Your mom told me you agreed to the blind date. So I drove through the night to get here.”
He said it like it was nothing. I felt so awkward.
I’d been with Lincoln for seven years. It had been forever since I’d been alone with another man.
Chapter 5
Let alone a blind date.
“I… I was just saying that to make my mom feel better…”
“But I’m serious.”
“You don’t have to be…”
“No! How can you treat love like a joke??”
I had no response to that.
“But do you even know me?”
I laughed bitterly, continued:
“Lincoln and I dated for seven years. Lived together for five. We did everything a married couple does-except sign the marriage certificate.”
“Does that bother you?”
“My mom might not have told you all that. But I don’t want to lie to you.”
What’s done is done.
Regret it, resent it-it doesn’t change history.
“I know you dated for seven years. And I know it ended in a total disaster. You know what that tells me?”
“That I have terrible taste in men?”
“Partly. But it also means long relationships aren’t always a good thing. Especially for you-you’ve had enough of dating. Any more and you’ll be sick of it.”
“So let’s skip dating. Let’s just get married,”
“What?!”
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