Page 32 of Ruin Me Gently

But I stayed put. Teeth clenched. Chest tight as I tuned into their conversation. Because again, I was clearly some masochistic idiot.

“You wanna get out of here?”

Not happening.

I was up in a heartbeat.

I had no plan. No excuse. No idea what the endgame was. But I followed anyway.

They were already halfway to the exit, laughter weaving between the group, whilst the asshole lingered back, fishing through his pockets. “Gonna hit the bathroom first.”

I bit back a smirk. Now was my chance.

I lingered back enough to avoid suspicion as I followed him to the restroom, fists itching.

No plan. Just an opportunity.

He pushed through the door, completely unaware, already raising the phone to his ear as he leaned against the sinks. I moved to the urinal, stood there, pretended to piss.

“No, babe, I’m gonna stay at Jake’s tonight.”

Oh?

“I love you too, Laura. Yeah, I promise I’ll be home in the morning.”

What the fuck?

I zipped up and turned, snatching the phone clean from his grip before he even had the chance to clock me.

“Hey! What the hell, man?”

He lunged, but I was already stepping back, already bringing the phone to my ear. “Laura, right?”

A small, startled silence, then— “Yeah? Who’s this?”

He shoved at me, scrambling, but I lifted an arm and palmed his chest, shoving him back hard enough that he nearly fell into a stall.

“This guy is your boyfriend, right?”

A pause. “Husband.”

Husband? Even better.

I glanced down, eyes homing in on his left hand. Bare.

“Well,” I said. “He’s not wearing his ring.”

“Give me my phone, man.”

I ignored him. “Matter of fact, he’s had another woman on his lap all night.”

A flare of something hot and wrong sparked in my chest the second the words left my mouth. Like she was just some random, meaningless girl he’d picked up at the bar, some stranger. She wasn’t. She wasn’t just another woman. She was Lilith.

“He’s coming home tonight,” I continued. “And you’re going to have his bags packed and waiting for him on the doorstep. Okay?”

“Uh… yeah. Okay,” she said shakily.

“I’m sorry.” The screen went dark as I hung up.

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