Page 38 of Lush

I reached for my phone again, scrolling through to the settings, hovering over “block number.” There was a knock on the door, and then it opened a second later.

“Wassup, stranger?”

I stiffened, frozen in place as my other ex-boyfriend walked in and wrapped his arms around me. Arthur’s brows rose, his expression carefully neutral, though his lips twitched.

“Toby.” I pushed my chair back from him. “What are you doing here?”

He looked just as I remembered: light-skinned with a buzzcut that highlighted the sharp angles of his face, his gray eyes catching the light like polished steel. His smile was too big, too bright, all teeth and audacity.

“Thought I’d check in on an old friend. That was some shit your mama pulled. Tricking the town to come to your engagement party?”

“Sad it wasn’t you?” I shot back.

His grin widened. “You missed me when you were gone, don’t lie.”

“I, uh, guess I’ll leave you two to catch up.” Arthur cleared his throat. Before I could respond, he disappeared through the door.

“Sit.”

“You’re not happy to see me.” He dropped into the seat. “That sucks, babe.”

How simple life would have been if I’d been in love with Toby and not Reese?

“What are you doing here?”

“That engagement party? I thought it was a big joke, but you’re marrying Reese for real?”The way Toby said it was like stepping into a pile of dog shit.

“Toby…”

“Relax, babe. I’m just saying, damn, this town got more men. Your mama coulda hit me back up. You, slumming it with a guy like Ashbourne? He killed your last fiancé, shit.” He scoffed, sitting up straighter.

I swallowed hard, keeping my face unreadable. “That’s not what happened.”

“People say Reese got lucky. That if it weren’t for your family, he’d be sitting in a cell.”

Jail? Mama and Daddy never said anything about jail. Reese was an Ashbourne, and their family had been here just as long. If anything, he would have gotten a slap on the wrist.

“Wasn’t that long ago people wouldn’t even let Reese in their stores. You know the old guy who used to run Fillmore’sHardware? He used to close early if he saw Reese coming. What if he was coming for an axe to kill Harold and Pauline next?”

I swallowed.

“And the diner?” Toby went on, eyes sharp with amusement. “They used to ‘forget’ his orders. Man would sit there for an hour, just waiting for a plate that was never coming.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Shoulda seen the look on his face the first time it happened. After that, he stopped going out much. Stopped talking to people too.”

Would he have stayed for me?The thought cuts deep. I know the answer. Yes. He would have burned the whole town down for me. But I wasn’t that brave. “After that…he got real angry. Got into it with a couple of guys down at Murphy’s. Some out-of-towners running their mouths, and next thing you know, Reese is knocking teeth out.” He let out a low whistle. “Every week, he was kicking somebody’s ass. His sister got him out a few times. But it was actually your brother who bailed him out last, pulled him off a guy damn near covered in blood. Harold was gonna leave him to rot.”

Erik never mentioned this to me.

At all.

I felt something heavy settle in my stomach. “Why are you telling me this?”

Toby shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe I figured you’d wanna know what you’re getting into. Or maybe I just wanted you to see how good we were together. I always thought we’d end up back together again, at least professionally.”

“That was college, and not a chance in hell again. You crossed a line when you hid the fact that youhave a child.”

He scoffed. “I got a paternity test. The kid isn’t mine.”

Toby and I had been the perfect couple in everyone’s eyes. Till that little scandal, and Mama was quick to make me cut ties, which I was more than glad to do.

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