Page 1 of Better than Revenge

Chapter One

Tamsin

I keep asking myself what the hell I’m doing here. Then I remember. Revenge. I am here for revenge. And that thought alone gives me the courage to raise my hand and knock on the door in front of me. This might be a dumb idea but I’m not just going to sit around and mope over some ass who didn’t realize what a good thing he had. Fuck him!

My boyfriend -ex-boyfriend- dumped me. Yeah, it’s tragic, and if it was just that I would let things be. But it’s not just that. He dumped me…for one of my close friends -an ex-close friend- someone I thought I could trust and who cared about me. Times two. Double the hurt. And now I want double the revenge. Is this a smart idea? No, not at all but if I have even a chance to get back at those bastards then…well, here I am.

The door springs open, and I am staring at a broad, bare male chest. My eyes fly up as I realize I am standing here staring only to have penetrating blue-gray eyes look right through me. Oh my God! I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here.

“Tamsin Fairchild. What are you doing here? Are you lost?”

I don’t like how he says my name. Or how he decided to open his door. Or how he…makes me sound stupid. I take a calming breath and raise my chin. Be resolute. Be firm. Be the one in control. You can do this. You can.

“Can I come in?”

“You want to come into my home?”

“Well, I guess I can ask you for help in destroying your least favorite person on your stoop, but it might be hard to hear over the engines reeving down below.”

Levi St. Croix lives above a repair garage where every Friday and Saturday some of the wilder citizens in town come out and do things like drag race, park to show off their cars and fuck in the backseats, and drink and raise hell. I shouldn’t have come, especially not tonight. I’ve already been cat-called, and propositioned, and several people are looking at the two of us standing on the metal stoop connected to the stairs that go up to his apartment. If I have to leave because he slams the door in my face, I’m going to have to put up with so much shit getting back to my car.

A thought flashes through my head, and I turn to leave. What if he has company? What if there is a reason he’s shirtless? What if I’m interrupting something? Ew, gross. The last thing I want is to see him fucking someone. I’ve already seen enough of that this week when I found my ex-boyfriend and ex-friend going at it. I really shouldn’t have come. This was a stupid idea.

A hand circles my wrist and stops me from rushing down the stairs. I stare down at it before looking back up into those startling blue eyes that remind me of a summer storm. One that comes out of nowhere and can turn deadly if you’re caught out in it. We stare at one another for what seems like a long time. Me with a shocked expression in my eyes and he with a constant, bored disdainful look in his.

“You got five minutes.”

He holds the door wider but doesn’t move aside. I open my mouth to tell him to forget about it or maybe that I don’t want to come in and find naked people prancing all around me when a voice shouts up to us.

“Yo, Levi, who you got there? Sure looks pretty enough to eat, doesn’t she?”

Yeah, chalk this up as a stupid, drunk mistake I took too far. I’m out of here.

“Tony, keep your god damned eyes to yourself before I come down there and help you with that.”

He pulls me into the house as the guy’s laugh follows us in until he slams the door behind us.

“Ignore Tony. He couldn’t hurt a fly, but he likes to talk a big game. Kind of like your boyfriend, kitten.”

“Ex. My ex-boyfriend.” I correct him.

“Hmm. I heard you caught him dick deep in someone that wasn’t you. Wasn’t sure you actually dumped him though.”

My cheeks heat and I refuse to look into those eyes that see way too much. “I didn’t. He dumped me which just makes everything worse since I didn’t even get the satisfaction of dumping his cheating ass.”

“So, you would have dumped him if he hadn’t dumped you first?”

This time I do look up at him. Annoying fucking man.

“You think I would have stayed with him even though I found him cheating on me?”

He shrugs his shoulder like it’s no big deal he thinks I’m that pathetic. “You stayed with him knowing he was a douche nozzle. What’s changed now?”

He looks me up and down, dragging his eyes over me like a physical touch.

“I didn’t realize he was a ‘douche nozzle’ and I most certainly would not have stayed with someone who was cheating on me.”

He lifts an eyebrow, “Hmm, I don’t know. You look like the kind of girl who would give him second, third, and fourth chances. One of those let’s-work-it-out kind of girls.”

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