Page 67 of Perfect (mis)Match

“I was shocked to see you arrive with your little friend behind the lens. The two of you are honestly still together? I still can’t believe she’s enough for you.”

And there it was.

I should’ve known better than to think we’d get through this without a swipe at Piper. Maya’s jealousy was a finely tuned art form, right up there with her ability to weaponize silk robes. I took a deep breath, silently counting to ten.

Piper’s enough to run circles around you any day of the week, I thought. But instead of saying that out loud and lighting another fire, I forced a tight smile and pretended like my frustration wasn’t building to a boiling point.

“Maya, let’s just?—”

“Look at her, then look at me.” Maya traced her hand down her body, skimming her fingers along her breast. “You clearly traded down.” She giggled.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“I’d say that’s a matter of opinion,” I said. Inmyopinion, Maya on her best day couldn’t even begin to measure up to Piper, but saying that directly wouldn’t accomplish anything. “Let’s not have this conversation,” I concluded as I backed away.

“That’s fine, but when you’re ready to upgrade again, give me a call. We were good together.”

I barked out a laugh. “You know that’s not true. We were a goddamn car crash.”

My accidental word choice reminded me of Piper. Sometimes car crashes led togoodthings. Maya, however, was more like the kind of accident that leaves a fifty-car pileup and a trail of wreckage across multiple counties.

“And you’ve been trashing me in the media every chance you get since we broke up,” I continued. “What kind of idiot would I look like if I got back together with someone who treats me like that?”

“Oh, come on. You know the public loves a reunion story.” She took a step closer to me. I instinctively took another step back. “I can already picture how it could play out. We stage telephoto shots of us running into each other in Central Park. So unexpected! So adorable! That’ll get people talking, like, are they trying again? Then we do more shots of us having coffee together a few days later. Nothing too intimate yet, just us figuring out what went wrong between us. Then we could do some of us walking my dog, laughing and holding hands.”

“You don’t have a dog, Maya.” I sighed, so very tired of this nonsense. Everything with her was so staged, so artificial. So different from Piper, who was dynamically and defiantly herself at all times.

“Whatever, I’d borrow one,” she said quickly. “Dogs are good for engagement.”

It took real effort not to roll my eyes. Was there a limit to how much nonsense a person could spew before they’d spontaneously combust? Because if so, Maya was about to hit her quota.

She stepped even closer to me. “I know you must misssomeparts of being with me…” Maya grasped my hand and placed it against her breast. “These parts.” I pulled my arm awayimmediately. How the hell she read that as encouragement, I couldn’t say, but she gave me a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin and proceeded to squeeze her breasts herself, putting on a show. “Just know that all of this will be waiting for you when you’re ready for an upgrade from that little photographer.”

“Because you miss me so very much,” I said, voice dry as a bone. “Not because you miss having me foot the bill for all the crap you’re too cheap to buy for yourself.”

Maya grew up struggling, and no matter how successful she got, she still hated spending her own money on anything. I could respect the grit she’d used to propel herself into success. Hell, I could even respect her being frugal and actually knowing the value of a dollar. But the way she acted like she was doing me a huge favor byallowingme to cater to her every whim aggravated the crap out of me.

“I can’t miss both?” she asked with a wink. “I deserve a man who’s…well-endowed in every way, and you deserve a woman who’s a ten, not a five.”

“You’re such a romantic,” I snarked.

At that, she laughed out loud. “We both know romance isn’t real,” she trilled. “I don’t need you to love me. I don’t even care if you like me. All I’m offering is some mutual satisfaction. Think about it…and know that the offer won’t stay open forever.” With that, she sauntered off.

I heard a cough and glanced behind me. Piper was in the doorway.

“Too bad we’re only halfway through the shoot,” she said.

“Oh shit,” I walked over to her. “You heard all of that?”

Piper nodded. Her face was pale.

“She’s ridiculous—we both know that. Ignore her. I wouldneverget back together with Maya.” I reached out to grasp her shoulders.

She looked up at me and managed a smile. But it looked a little forced.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Just tired,” she said. “Long day. But it’s going well, right? I think we’ve gotten some really solid shots. And I think you’ll like our next setup.”

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