Page 77 of The Love You Fight For
I grab a towel off a nearby tool cart and wipe some grease off my hands. I don’t bother washing them for her, though. I don’t care what she thinks.
“If you head inside those doors, someone will be right with you.”
She smiles and slides her sunglasses to the top of her head.
“I was actually hoping to talk to you,” she says.
I note the way she’s made her voice kind of low and raspy. Like she’s trying to be sexy. Trying but failing. Did this use to work on me?
What the fuck does she want?
“I’m at work,” I clip. “So if you aren’t here for an oil change or a new set of tires, it is going to have to wait.”
I turn to walk away, but she clamps her hand down on my bicep, halting me in my tracks.
“Baby,” she coos, “just give me a minute, okay? I just want to talk.”
I face her, and she beams. It does nothing for me.
“How are you? How have you been? How are Luke and Lucy? I saw Tiffany posted pictures of their birthday party. I’m sad I missed it.”
“They had a good time,” I say slowly.
“That’s good. I wish I could have been there.”
We fall back into awkward silence. She continues to smile and blink at me as if she’s waiting for me to say something, and it’s just...weird. It’s fucking weird, and I don’t have the patience for it.
“Sable, I don’t have time for small talk, okay? We got cars scheduled all the way up to closing, so if you’re here for something, just say it so I can get back to work.”
Her smile grows strained, and she lets out an irritated little laugh.
“I saw Samantha Harper is coming back around,” she says.
I arch a brow, but I don’t say anything. She blinks again.
“In Tiffany’s pictures online? Samantha Harper was there at the birthday party with you.”
“Okay...?”
“So you guys are all close again? Like, Lennon and her are friends, right?”
I furrow my brow and nod. I can’t figure out where she’s going with this.
“Yes, Sam and Lennon are friends, but we all went to school together. I’ve known Sam since kindergarten.”
I state the information even though I know Sable already knows. We had multiple conversations about Sam when Sable and I first started dating. She was jealous of Sam, and even after Sam stopped coming around entirely, she was still a point of tension in our relationship.
I’ll admit that Sable was right to be jealous at first. Hell, my initial attraction to her was that she looked and acted a bit like Sam. Her hair wasn’t as blond. Her lips weren’t as red. She wasn’t as, I don’t know, queen-like. She wasn’t Sam, but she was similar, and she soothed the ache of Sam’s rejection.
I let it go too far. I know that now. But after a while, I thought I was in love.
I was wrong.
Looking at Sable today, though, I can’t seem to find a single similarity between her and Sam. Sam has something that Sable doesn’t. My heart.
“So are any of you going to the gala, then?” Sable asks, trying to sound casual and failing.
I know it’s a trap, but I walk into it anyway.
