Page 21 of Nitro

“Where on earth am I going to wear this dress?” I pull the high-neck, sleeveless red chiffon dress out of the bag and hold it to my bust.

“To your divorce party after the judge signs off on it,” Nina declares.

“I don’t want a party.” My shoulders hunch in as my chin drops to my chest. “I still can’t believe this is happening. That it’s over. I thought I’d be married my whole life.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Nina sits beside me and squeezes my hand. “I thought that too, but fate had other plans. I lost the love of my life because of a corrupt sheriff. He killed my husband and made it look like an accident. The sheriff’s dead now, but I’ll never get back what I lost.”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you.” I squeeze her hand back.

“It was a long time ago. But I know how you feel. It will get a little better with time. The first few weeks, or months, or even years feel like hell. Eventually though, things start to suck less. I promise.”

“Thank you.”

“Nitro will take good care of you,” Nina says.

“He’s already been great.”

“I’m sure he has. He’s got the biggest crush on you.”

“What?” My belly flips, and suddenly my chest is so tight it’s hard to breathe.

“Oh, did I say that out loud?” Nina bats her eyelashes.

“You’re terrible.” Julia rolls her eyes. “At least let her recover before you start stirring the pot.”

“That can’t be right,” I whisper more to myself than to anyone else.

“Trust me. He’s been crushing on you hard. But he’s a good guy. He couldn’t do anything about it while you were married.Now that you’re getting divorced, you’re back on the menu, and believe me, that boy wants to eat you up.”

“Nina!” Julia shakes her head.

“I just want to warn her in case he becomes too overbearing,” Nina says before turning to me. “You can call us whenever you need someone to talk some sense into him. He tends to be obsessive when he wants something.”

“But he’s been so nice.”

“He’s being respectful. I taught him to respect women. But he’s a man, and they can only hold back for so long. If you need us to intervene, we’re a phone call away,” Nina says.

“Okay.”

“We should let her get some rest,” Julia says.

“Can we get you anything before we go?”

“No, thank you.”

“We’re just a phone call away,” Nina repeats before opening the door.

“Don’t let the crush thing freak you out. Nitro won’t attack you or anything like that,” Julia says before leaving.

I think she said that to calm me down, but my heart’s still racing. Nitro can’t possibly have a crush on me. Why would he want someone like me? I’m nothing. He’s a badass and needs to be with an equally badass woman. I’m definitely not that kind of girl. It’s simple. They’re mistaken. Or maybe they were just messing with me. They don’t seem like the type of women who are cruel to other women, but I don’t know them that well. Maybe my initial assessment of them was wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve made that mistake. Just look at my husband. I thought he walked on water, but really, he wasn’t nearly as perfect as he appeared to be. I was way off in my assessment of him, so I could be wrong about them too.

A knock on the door snaps me out of my thoughts. “Come in.”

As the door opens, Crystal strolls past the prospect guarding my door. “Call Nitro if you must, but I’ll only be a second.” Her haughty gaze sweeps across the bags of clothes before it darts around the room. “I left something in here. You don’t mind if I look for it, do you?”

“No.” I don’t like her, but I can’t kick her out. It’s not my room, and she has more right to it than I do since she lives in the clubhouse.

She saunters across the room and snatches up the red bra I found earlier. “Found it.”

---