Page 59 of Mateo & Nicole

“How did yourerrandsgo?” he sniped.

She flinched and dropped her focus to her hands. “Mateo?—”

“Tell me something, Nikki.” He pushed away from where he stood and headed down the stairs, not caring that his voice sounded entirely too sinister. “Why are you pulling away from me?”

Her head snapped up, and it momentarily threw him off to see the surprise in her eyes. “I’m not?—”

“Yes, you are,” he bit out.

Nikki’s eyes narrowed to slits, and the guilt was completely overshadowed by a sharp, accusatory look. She folded her arms as the rate of her breathing increased. “If I pulled away, it’s because youlied.”

“Ilied? That’s rich, coming from you.” He released a mirthless laugh and spun around to pace just like he had in the kitchen. He completely disregarded the fact that she thought he was capable of that sort of deception. “I can’t believe I allowed myself to give in to the fairytale.” He muttered it more to himself than anyone else. “I should have known that honest relationships are practically impossible to find.”

“You want to talk abouthonest? I’ll give you honest,” she snapped, dragging him back to the present. “From the very beginning, I knew that you didn’t want me. Not really.”

His head whipped around so fast that he might have pulled something. What was she talking about? He’d been the one to seek her out. He’d been the one to fall first. He was the one with a shattered heart in his chest. Before he could lash out at her over everything he’d just seen, she cut him off.

Nikki waved a hand down herself. “You can’t tell me this is your first choice. I know I’m not the standard for beauty, but I guess it was too easy to get me to believe that you might want something different after spending your life dating shallow, stick-thin women like Caroline.”

“What are youtalkingabout?” he blurted.

She rolled her eyes and let out a strangled huff. “Seriously? How long have we known each other? Have you forgotten that I’ve seen the girls you dated in high school? My best friend was the one youproposedto. You might not want to admit it, but you definitely had a type, and these curves? They don’t fit in that perfect little box, do they?”

His bewilderment was almost enough to distract him from the real issue at hand. “You think that I’m not attracted to you?” He’d given her no indication he felt any such thing. Where was her evidence? Mateo took a step toward her, frustrated beyond belief. “Nikki?—”

Her hand flew up between them, warding him off. “No. I get it now. I understand. This thing between us was a fling. It was nice while it lasted, but when—” Her eyes widened momentarily, and she looked away.

“When what, Nikki? What were you going to say?”

She wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does,” he seethed, his fury returning. “Because everything you’ve been telling yourself is a lie. Whatever it is you think is going on, it’s not true.”

She still glowered at him, shaking her head. “I thought you knew better. With your history? I thought you would have learned something.”

His mouth fell open. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. He wanted to shake the truth out of her. He wanted her to tell him what made her believe he’d done something so terrible that she’d go on a date with another guy. His hands shook as that picture filled his mind. He’d never considered himself a jealous guy. Heck, if Caroline had sent him a message without proof, he wouldn’t have believed it. Even after that woman had blown his world to pieces, he’d been willing to trust again.

He’d been an idiot.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he hissed, dragging his phone from his pocket. “I would never hurt you. I would never lie to you. But this? Apparently, women are just made for betrayal.” He shoved the phone at her.

Nikki fumbled with it a moment, and then her eyes lowered to the screen. The words from Caroline were right above the picture of Nikki with the man Mateo didn’t know. She stared at the picture for a long moment, time slowing as all the pieces came together. When she lifted her eyes, tears lined her lashes. Without a word, she shoved the phone right back into his chest and stormed into the house.

That was it. No explanation. No attempts to clear her name.

Caroline had been right.

He lost track of time as he stood there. His limbs refused to operate the way they used to. That numbness returned full force. What had he expected? That she’d drop to his feet and plead for him to forgive her?

Fire prickled behind his eyes, and he dug his fingernails into his hands. He wasn’t going to cry over this. When Caroline had turned his life inside out, he’d told himself he wouldn’t blindly trust anyone. That was why it had taken him ten years to finally be willing to open his heart. The fact that Nikki had managed to get past his defenses only showed what a fool he still was.

“Hey, what are you doing out here? Weren’t you supposed to be hanging with Paxton today?”

Sophia’s voice filtered to his ears past the raging thoughts that spun tumultuously in his head. Slowly, his eyes shifted to her, finding concern laced in their depths.

“Yeah,” his voice cracked. “But Nikki is back, so…”

---