Page 20 of Cold Foot Cash

Pick up your phone Harley!

Call me back.

Call me back right now!

RIGHT NOW!

We’re still married.

That one had her mouth dropping right open. Oh now they were still married? Lance had been living with his mistress since they’d separated a year ago. But yeah, if she started moving on, all the sudden she’s the problem.

She read through the rest of the texts, appalled by his behavior. She’d never seen him like this, but then, he’d never had competition for her before. She’d never given him a single reason to question her.

Huh. Interesting. So, Harley was supposed to just accept his girlfriend, Alissa, but if she had an ounce of fun with someone from the opposite sex, he was allowed to lose his mind.

A text came through from an unknown number.Can we talk?

Who is this?she texted back. Send.

Alissa.

Harley’s heart dropped right to the floor. Alissa. That name…that name had ruined her life.

She tried to fill her lungs with oxygen, but she only gasped and still felt like she didn’t have enough air.

Please, Alissa texted.

What the hell was happening? She didn’t have anything to do with her. She’d never wanted to. Not even a little.

A call came through from the same unknown number, and with shaky hands, Harley answered. “Hello?”

“Hey,” the soft woman’s voice came through.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to leave him alone.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Whatever is happening…whatever head games you’re playing with Lance, can you please stop? Can you just let him go? We’ve been doing so good, we’re happy, but whatever you’ve been doing the last few weeks is getting into his head and causing huge problems for us.”

“Not that I’m obligated to give a shit about your relationship problems, but that annoying part aside…you think I’m messing with his head?”

“I know you are. He tells me everything. I’m asking you, woman to woman, can you just leave him alone?”

“I don’t want him,” Harley said, and now she absolutely felt the truth of those words with every fiber of her being. She really and truly didn’t want him back. Hearing his girlfriend’s voice was too much. Accepting the wrong he’d done to Harley was too much. His behavior the second he felt threatened by another man’s presence was too much. This drama was way, way too much.

She put Alissa on speaker phone, opened Lance’s text thread, and screen shot his conversations with her lately. Sherarely even responded, so it was mostly him talking to himself and begging for her attention. It had been picking up for the last few weeks, for sure. She even screenshot his angry texts after Cash had texted from her phone. And then she sent the entirety of those texts to Alissa.

“I haven’t talked to him on the phone in months,” she told her. “I haven’t stepped on your relationship with him. That was your gig. There’s all of our conversations over the past few weeks. This all seems like something you two need to deal with in your home. Oh wait, I mean my home. That was my home that you’re living in right now. I’m not involved in your meltdowns. Please leave me alone.”

“So…you’re still on for Tuesday?”

“Wouldn’t miss it. I’m counting down.” God, she meant that.

“It’s just he said you’ve been begging for him back, and he’s been questioning everything, and talking about not going to the courthouse on Tuesday.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I haven’t begged anyone for anything. I’m out of town right now, trying to get away from y’all’s weird shit. He was on my porch sending me crying pictures tonight. Feel free to tell him to leave me alone. Can we end the call now? And never repeat it again? He’s all yours. Truly. No one wants him but you.”

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