Page 134 of Wild Ride

Dex exploded. “No one dumped anyone! We weren’t dating.”

Kershaw was on a roll. “He came out of her office at the shelter looking like Banks had taken all his cash at the poker game. She definitely gave him the heave-ho.”

Kaz sniffed. “Probably figured out he’ll be in the Big House by the playoffs.”

“I’m not?—”

“More likely she realized he’s not the settling down type.” Burnett raised a glass. “Here’s to O’Malley and his return to the clubs. The VIP lounges have missed you.”

“If you must know, I ended it, because she and her kid deserve better. Okay?”

She had said she’d fallen in love with him. Or rather that she couldn’t fall in love with someone who was bad news.

Those glorious words had exited her gorgeous mouth, and what did Dex do? Told her she had it wrong. Invalidated those feelings.

He’d gone into that office, intending to tell her how he felt, but then she dropped the Ruby bombshell and all he could feel was shame. He wished she’d never talked to his mother because then he wouldn’t have had to explain how toxic she was, and how, underneath it all, Dex wasn’t much different.

The crew stared at him.

“Seriously?” Foreman asked. “That was your reason?”

“It’s as good a reason as any. She’s perfect and fucking hell, I am not.”

Petrov eyed him. “No man is good enough for his woman. Or, for some of us, his man.”

The entire room groaned.

“Not this shit,” Reid muttered.

Dex arced a gaze over the group. “What now?”

“You’ve opened up a can of Petrov-scented turds of wisdom,” Foreman said with a sigh. “My Russian bestie has opinions. Strong opinions.”

“Young Dexter, listen and listen well,” Petrov said after a withering look at Foreman and the rest of the crew. “Women are not meant to be our equals. They sit above us in clouds of spun gold, occasionally showering us with rays of sun. If we catch a sliver of their attention, we are blessed. This woman, for some strange reason beyond your comprehension and most certainly ours, has smiled at you—I have seen it. She gazes at you with more affection than she does the puppies and kittens in her care.”

Kershaw chuckled. “Yep, O’Malley, you’re just above the dogs in her estimation.”

Vadim waved a hand. “I know what I have seen. You make her happy. Will you ever be good enough for her?” He looked around the table, where everyone agreed with nods, grunts, and clear-cut body language that no, Dex would never achieve this exalted status. “Then you have to accept that unless she has told you to fuck yourself, then she thinks you are worthy of her attention.”

“She did say I needed to meet my problems head-on.”

Foreman squinted. “And she said this because?”

Because like a dog, he had buried his bone in the yard and was happy to leave it there where it couldn’t bother him.

Couldn’t she see the favor he was doing her? It was better to get out before any more shit hit the fan. His mother. The court case. Whatever disaster was lined up on the center line waiting for a stick to strike it.

“Because I don’t want to deal with my shit.”

The big Russian stared at him without blinking. “Then that is your problem, not hers.”

An hour later, he visited the men’s room where he ran into Petrov again.

“Listen, thanks for the pep talk earlier.”

“You don’t believe what I say, though, do you?”

“I believe you think that’s the way the world works. The way relationships work.”

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