Page 48 of Breakup Games

“Yeah.” I look at her in awe, once again. “It is.”

The waitress comes over and takes our order and our conversation shifts again. It’s so fucking easy to talk to Mira and before we know it, we’ve been here for nearly two hours, talking even after the food is gone. There’s a break in the rain and Mira asks if I want to take Violet for a walk with her and can’t say no. I didn’t get my morning workout in so a fast-paced walk is better than nothing.

I walk her to the entrance, making sure she’s in the building with the doors closed and locked to the public behind her and then go around to the courtyard. If anyone has been there recently, footprints will be visible thanks to the recent rain. There’s nothing new, but when I round the corner to go back to my car, I see Mira standing on the sidewalk, standing frozen as some guy walks toward her.

She’s tense, gripping the leash tightly. I break into a jog, coming up behind her right as the other guy does. And that’s when I realize she’s tense with anger, not fear.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Cory,” she spits. “What do you want?”

Chapter

Twenty-Six

MIRA

“Oh, so the rumors are true.” Cory pushes his shoulders back and arches his eyebrows. “Mother was right.”

I’m a therapist, for fuck’s sake. I know how to handle a narcissists and I remind myself of the JADE technique. Don’t justify, argue, defend, or explain.

“Have the day you deserve, Cory,” I press and step back next to Mason. He doesn’t miss a beat and puts his arm around me.

“Hey babe. Ready to date our pup for a walk?”

“She got her when she was still married to me,” Cory stammers. He’s close to six feet and has been in very good physical shape for the last few years. Still, I’ve never met a smaller man.

“No one cares,” Mason says with little emotion. He also knows how tonotengage with someone crazy like Cory. He puts his arm around me and stares at Cory, gaze unwavering.

“Why are you here?” I ask. “You’re not supposed to be.”

“This came in my mail.” He holds up an envelope. It’s junk mail and every once in a while something with my name gets sent to his address.

“You know that you just forward it to me, and do not show up at my residence.”

“It’s a public place. I can be here if I want.”

Mason steps forward, taking the mail from Cory. “Dude, she’s not interested.” He folds the mail and puts it in his back pocket. “Let’s go.” His arm goes back around me and we walk a few paces toward the sideway. “Who is that guy?” he asks loud enough for Cory to hear.

“Just some guy I dated a long time ago.”

“Oof. Pathetic he’s still begging for more.”

“I know, right?” I bite my lip to keep from smiling. This is fun. Once we’re around the block, Mason loosens his grip on me and turns around.

“He really is obsessed with you.”

“I know. He doesn’t love me, he just can’t stand the thought of anyone else having me or that I can be happy without him. What about you? Do you have a crazy ex?”

He laughs. “I don’t and now I’m feeling oddly inadequate because no one is psychotically obsessed with me.”

“It does stroke my ego, not gonna lie,” I joke. “Though like for real, knowing his girlfriend takes time to plot out, plan, and then make TikToks about me does give me a little serotonin boost. I kinda feel like royalty and the meaner she gets, the more I know my very existence just eats away at her, which is wild. We’ve never even talked but yet she hates me that much.”

“I can’t fathom investing my energy into hating someone like that.”

“Right? It takes energy to hate. I’m not giving my energy to someone who doesn’t deserve it.” We walk a few more paces and just having Mason next to me has calmed me in a way I didn’t realize another person could. “I want to know about your last ex.”

“It’s not that interesting,” he chuckles. “I was based down south, dated a woman named Ashley for a couple months and then broke things off when I got relocated. I haven’t had anything you’d consider a relationship since.”

“Because you don’t want one?” I ask, telling myself I’m just curious, not that I’m testing the waters. One of the biggest things I tell my clients is that if a man says he’s not looking for a relationship, believe him.

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