Page 117 of The Love You Win

“Spill it,” Navarro demands after I hand out the last beer and flop back onto the couch.

“Why do you assume there’s anything to spill?”

“You called Isla your ex in the locker room,” Griffin says. He frowns deeply. “What the hell happened?”

God, this is humiliating. I don’t want to tell them what I overheard. I feel like a big enough loser without them knowing. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to get them to back off. “Life happened. It didn’t work out. Can we let it go?”

“Listen. You know I’m not a big relationship guy.” Logan shivers as though someone just walked over his grave. “But even I can admit you’ve been a surly asshole since we hit the road. Clearly, there’s more to it than it just didn’t work out. You two seemed like you were doing so well. What happened?”

Reluctant to speak, I stare at the three of them for a few minutes. They just stare back. They won’t let it go. I sigh, leaning forward so my elbows rest on my knees, and stare at the floor. “My picker’s broken.”

“What?”

“I keep picking the same kind of woman. My picker is broken.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Logan asks. “Isla isn’t like the other women you’ve dated.”

“She is though.” My ire rises, and so does my voice. “She’s the same as Candace and Georgia and all the other gold-digging women who only want us for what we can give them.”

Silence meets my outburst. My three best friends look at me like I’ve lost my ever-loving mind. And maybe I have. It’s Griffin who finally breaks the silence.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

I glare at him. What the hell does he know, anyway?

“Isla is nothing like Candace. Nothing. She’s smart and cool and she’s completely in love with you, you giant idiot.”

Scoffing, my lip curls in a sneer. “Is that why I overheard her talking to her former fiancé on Friday about how she lucked out finding a rich guy to take care of her? Is that why she called me a lucrative catch?”

Wright’s mouth drops open. Navarro and Byrne look just as shocked. Navarro’s eyes narrow. “What do you mean, you overheard her?”

“I was surprising her with lunch,” I tell him. “I was just around the corner by her classroom when I heard her ex saying all this shit to her. I wanted to storm in there and kick his ass, but I wanted to give Isla the time to defend herself. Instead, she basically confirmed everything the dude accused her of.”

“And what did she say when you asked her about it?” Bash asks.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I shrug. “I tried to get her to admit that she saw him over text that night, but she didn’t. That tells me everything I need to know.”

Navarro’s brow pinches. “So you didn’t even talk to her?”

“And say what?” I nearly shout. “Hey, babe. Overheard you talking to your ex today about how you’re just using me for my money and my dick. Care to explain?” I shake my head. “No way.”

“Yes, Graves. That’s exactly what you should have said.” He levels me with a look I can only imagine a disappointed father would wear. Not that I have one to know. Still, it makes the little boy in me shrivel up a bit. “You’re in love with the woman, and you didn’t even give her a chance to explain the situation? Did you even see her face when she was talking to him?”

“No,” I growl. “Didn’t need to. Her words were clear enough.”

“You’re a fucking moron,” Griffin says. “A real idiot.”

“I know,” I shout, rising to my feet. “I am a fucking moron. Because here I thought I’d found someone who actually cared about me. But no. She’s just like the rest of them.”

“You were triggered,” Sebastian says. The look of disappointment he’d been wearing morphs into one of pity. It’s even worse. “It’s understandable. But you owe it to yourself, and Isla, to have a real conversation about this.”

“Why? So I can hear even more of her bullshit? If I wanted to hear more, I would have stuck around for the end of their conversation.”

“Wait.” Logan leans forward and squints at me. “You didn’t even hear the end of the conversation?”

“Why would I want to? I heard enough.”

“Did you, though?” Sebastian asks.

---