Page 8 of The Breaking Point

I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. “Does this story have a happy ending?” I asked.

Tess giggled. “Well, yeah! Aidan took me up to his room to help him clean up.” She leaned closer to me. “And he invited his friend. We had a great time, the three of us.”

“Ah.”

“How about we go find somewhere else? Somewhere with a little more privacy.” Tess traced a hand up my arm, her long, red nails scratching at my skin like a cat’s.

I seriously considered her offer. She sounded like she’d be a fun time, at least. I had a feeling she’d be up for anything, too.

But something was stopping me. The words that I should say somehow wouldn’t come out of my mouth. It made zero sense.

What’s stopping you?I was suddenly disgusted with my hesitation.

Hadn’t I just been complaining to Mac about being bored? Tess would definitely relieve my boredom for a bit. It was clear she wanted me.

So what was the fucking problem?

“Let me buy you another drink,” I said, turning toward the bar to get the bartender’s attention.

I managed to extricate myself from Tess’s claws before she dragged me into a dark alley to have her way with me. She wasn’t happy at me not taking her home, but I didn’t care.

I made a point to give her an autograph, told her who to contact for some free tickets to the next Blades game, and then headed home.

And I was going home alone. No Tesses to distract me tonight. I told myself it was because I was tired when I knew, deep down, it was because I couldn’t get Grace Dallas out of my head.

As if by fucking magic, I got a text from Grace herself.Is this still your number? It’s Grace.

I stared at my phone screen. But my jumbled, tipsy brain couldn’t put together a coherent reply. So I stuffed my phone into my pocket and ignored the problem, like I always fucking did.

But by the time I arrived home, it felt like my phone was burning a hole in my pocket. I couldn’t stop myself from responding.

Yeah, it’s me,I sent.

Grace replied quickly.Did you not want to text me back or what?

No, I was just busy.

Bullshit. I know you.

I chuckled. Shedidknow me, damn her.

Our conversation over text continued as the evening wore on. I admitted that it’d been weird seeing her out of the blue like that.

Weird, bad? Or weird, good?she asked.

Weird good. It was a surprise.

Oh good. Glad it was good for you, then.

I could hear the sarcasm. I laughed.You know you look good,I replied.

The three dots of her typing appeared on my screen. Then they disappeared. Then reappeared. At last, she sent,You look good, too.

When we finally said good night, I’d forgotten all about the woman I could’ve been fucking.

I could think only about the woman I knew I could never, ever have.

GRACE

---