Page 56 of Betting on Lizzie

She walked away feeling like she’d eaten a rock-filled loaf of French bread. It was a sensation she was not accustomed to and did not appreciate. Breakups were her forte, but this one had gone wrong. Terribly wrong. She never should have let him in.

It was still early, barely six o’clock. She thought of calling Lucy, but then she’d have to talk about the mess she was in—hard pass.

She loaded up Charlie and drove home. Was she overreacting? Maybe. But it was better this way. She didn’t see a scenario where she and Ben could work out anyway. They were in different life phases. He was about to send a child off to college and hadn’t been in a committed relationship for almost twenty years. Not that that was a deal breaker, but she hadn’t had one either, and someone had to know what they were doing.

When they returned to her condo, and she fed Charlie and made herself a sandwich. “This is a good thing,” she told the dog. “Less painful to do it now. I’ll be fine in a few days.”

She hoped that was true. It scared her how much she liked him. How vulnerable she’d felt with him. Luckily, Christmas was approaching, and between a bustling business at the bar and family get-togethers, she’d be too busy to fixate on a wounded heart. By the New Year, Ben Mansfield would be a long-lost memory.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Not too long after returning from the bar—where he was pretty sure he’d been dumped—Ben sat around a poker table with the males in Lizzie’s family. Noah had introduced them all, and he thought he had a handle on the names. Edward was her dad. Adam was Kate’s husband. Jack was Lucy’s, and Dirk was Emma’s. Noah, the only person he actually knew, had just married in about a month ago and was Daisy’s other half.

Ben was still processing what had happened earlier, which left only half a brain to focus on the game. With barely a glance at his cards, he threw down a chip. They were playing Texas Hold ’em, and the face-up cards on the table were important to his bet. Or should have been important.

“You sure you wanna do that?” Noah asked.

Ben looked at his hand and then at the flop. “Oh. No. Probably not, but it’s too late.”

“Somethin’ you want to talk about?” Jack said, folding his cards together.

“Huh?” Ben said.

“This has Lizzie written all over it,” Dirk added, also collapsing his cards.

“I don’t know what happened,” Ben said. He barely knew these guys, but maybe that would make spilling his guts easier. “One second, things are great. She texts that she likes me, and then all of a sudden, I’m on my ass in the parking lot.”

“I pray you mean that figuratively,” Edward muttered.

Ben huffed out a laugh and nodded. “Yes.”

“Wait a second,” Jack said, laying his cards face down on the table. “Did you say Lizzie texted she liked you?”

At Ben’s nod, he pulled out his phone and began typing into it. So did Adam and Dirk. After Jack put his phone down, Ben raised an eyebrow, asking for an explanation.

“Oh,” Jack said. “If Lucy finds out I knew about this and sat on the information, she’ll kill me.”

“Kate would also want to know,” Adam said diplomatically.

“Emma will just be so happy Lizzie likes someone,” Dirk said.

Noah looked as confused as Ben felt. “I’m new here,” he said. “Should I be involved in this somehow?”

Edward laughed as Adam’s phone rang, a picture of Kate flashing on the screen. He stood and took a step away to answer it. “Well, sure I believe him.” He lowered his voice, but Ben still overheard him. “Why would he lie?” Pause. “No, I’m not gonna ask to see the text.”

Jack jumped in. “Lucy asked to see it too,” he said to Ben. “Any chance…”

Ben rolled his eyes, opened the messaging app on his phone, and showed them the text, still unsure why this was causing such a ruckus.

Adam turned away again. “It’s there. But he has her listed as Elizabeth in his contacts.” His tone made it clear that Kate would find the information significant and inappropriate.

“You know I can hear you, right?” Ben asked, clicking the button to edit the contact and changing Elizabeth to Lizzie. “Happy?”

Adam shrugged. “Sounds like it’s not me you need to make happy.”

“What. Is. Happening?” Ben said. “What’s the big deal?”

Everyone took that opportunity to shut up. They all looked at each other, clearly hoping the other would explain. Edward finally manned up.

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