Page 100 of Tequila Tuesdays

Sadie: Hey, baby, it was so nice to see you the other day. I hope you’re having a good Christmas. If you want me to come over again—

Sadie: I’m home tonight if you need anything at all.

The longer text was cut off, and I didn’t know Damien’s code so I couldn’t pull it up and read the entire text. And I absolutely would have. I felt sick to my stomach and my heart slammed in my chest as I stared down at his phone. My hands shook, and I set my backpack back down on the counter.

He’d been talking to someone named Sadie on his phone at the dog park not long ago. I wondered who she was and if he was still seeing her. And still fucking her. It sounded like it. I wasn’t stupid or naïve. My job made me cynical as hell and I had a reasonable bullshit meter. But I hadn’t seen this coming.

I fought through the pain and confusion. We’d never talked about being exclusive. I’d just assumed we were on the same page. Maybe there was a reasonable explanation, but right then I just wanted to get away before I broke down.

My feet felt stuck to the floor, and my hands were shaking so much I had difficulty digging my phone out of my backpack to get a ride home. I leaned against the same counter he’d fucked me on a few minutes earlier and tried to calm down. I didn’t know what to say to Damien, but I knew I didn’t want to talk to him right then.

Damien called my name from the other room, and I started digging for my phone in earnest. My breaths were coming in short gasps, and I just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Right before I bolted for the front door, Damien walked into the kitchen. “What are you doing out here in the dark?” He reached over and turned on the light above the kitchen sink.

I flinched. My hair shielded my face from him. “I need to go home. I… I’ll get an Uber.”

He froze in the middle of the kitchen and studied me. “You drove over here. Your vehicle is outside. What’s going on?”

Then I remembered I’d driven here earlier today. I wondered frantically if I could drive myself home in my current state. I could if the alternative was having him take me home. Or waiting here for an Uber.

My stomach lurched, and I wanted to double over in pain. “You have a couple of texts,” I whispered. “Your phone was sitting next to my backpack.” I finally looked up at him with pain-filled eyes.

He cocked his head and studied me cautiously, then reached over and grabbed his phone off the counter.

He looked at it, then swore viciously under his breath. “Let me explain.”

I put up my hands. “When someone says those words, the next thing that usually comes out is a lie or an excuse.”

He stepped closer to me. “I’m not going to give you either.”

I felt my keys in the bottom of my bag. I pulled them out and held them to my chest.

“Who is Sadie?” I asked quietly.

He blanched but answered truthfully. “My old girlfriend.”

“When was the last time you fucked her?”

He narrowed his eyes. “A couple of months ago.”

I had to hand it to him, he promised me he wouldn’t lie or make excuses.

I swallowed when I felt bile starting to crawl up my throat. “We never talked about… seeing other people, or what either of us wanted from this.” I couldn’t call it a relationship because I didn’t even know what it was anymore. “I just assumed. That’s on me.”

Damien stepped toward me with his hands up, but I backed up hard against the counter.

“Don’t you touch me right now,” I rasped out.

He watched me carefully, then nodded and stepped back. “I’ll take you home tonight if that’s what you really want. But we’re going to talk tomorrow. I want your fucking promise.”

I shook my head. “I’ll drive myself home. And I can’t promise that. You spoke to her on the phone when we were at the dog park together. You’ve obviously seen her since then.” I shook my head and whispered brokenly. “You didn’t say aword.”

“Harley—”

“I don’t want to be with someone who isn’t with me, one hundred percent. I should have made it clear before now.”

He inched closer to me. “You’re making assumptions right now that are dead fucking wrong. I told Sadie about you, and I told her that she and I were done.”

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