Page 73 of Faking Romance

He hands me the phone and I look down at a text conversation.

“Go on, read it,” he encourages.

Brayden: What the fuck, Lydia? Why would you kiss Gray? That’s really fucked up.

I have to stop myself from laughing when I see what he has named Lydia on his phone.

Golddigger Dragon Lady: I don’t know what you are talking about.

Brayden: Gray told me everything.

Golddigger Dragon Lady: Well, did he tell you that he kissed me back? We aren’t over yet. Even he knows this. He just needed to get rid of that low-life smut seller. So I did it for him. He’ll come around eventually.

Brayden: So you kissed him on purpose, knowing that Roxy would see it?

Golddigger Dragon Lady: Obviously. I could have heard her coming a mile away. Her shoes were absolutely vulgar. Anyhow, now that Gray has figured out how wrong she was for him, we can get back together. You know we were good together, Bray. We were happy. I just…needed some time. We were young.

Brayden: Lydia, that was only a year ago.

Golddigger Dragon Lady: So what? I thought you’d be on my side. I thought we were friends.

Brayden: Yes, I thought wewerefriends too until you broke my best friend’s heart over how much money he was making. Go fuck yourself.

I look up at Brayden. “I didn’t know you still spoke to her,” I say as I try to wrap my head around what I just read while handing him his phone back.

“We don’t. I just didn’t delete her number from my phone,” he explains. “And I’m glad I didn’t because now you know the truth.”

Blowing out a long breath, I cross my arms. “OK, fine, so he didn’t kiss her, but he still is blaming me for Pierce finding out we were fake dating. I’m not good with that either.”

He cocks his head to one side as he considers what I’ve said. “I get that. He was upset and he should have thought his words through before speaking to you. You should know by now that Gray can be a little hot-tempered at times.”

“A little?” I say with a pointed look.

He chuckles. “Fine, a lot. But it’s only because he’s a passionate person. He fights with words and sometimes he lets his emotions get the better of him. It’s probably his only fault. If it’s any consolation, I think he feels terrible.”

I look around us. “Well, I don’t see him here apologizing.”

“You could go talk to him,” he says.

Groaning, I look down at my feet. I hate that he’s not wrong, but I also am stubborn, maybe that’smybiggest fault. “I could, but I’m not going to. He came raging in here all mad when I was already mad at him, and he knew it.”

“I think you should talk to him. I promise you, Roxy, he’s worth it. You will never find a more loyal, kind, smart, funny, and passionate man. I’ve watched him go above and beyond for his friends. He’s a good man and I’ve seen you two together. You had something real. Don’t toss it away over his crazy ex and one misunderstanding,” Brayden says as he starts to turn to leave.

I contemplate his words for a second but then remember Kasen’s letter.

“Brayden?”

He turns back to me, and I hold up a finger as I walk to the door in the back. I open it and Isla and Jocelyn scurry to their seats. “Seriously? Eavesdropping?”

Jocelyn shrugs and Isla looks sheepish. I roll my eyes and grab the mail.

Walking back to him, I shove it in his hand. “This is for Kasen. No idea how it got mixed in with mine.”

Frowning, Brayden looks at it, turning it over just like I did. “Weird. Uh, thanks. I’ll slide it under his door.”

“Oh, I could have done that,” I say, not sure what I expected.

“I can do it,” he assures me as he waves the letter. He walks out of my store, and I stand there watching him go, wondering where I went wrong. Am I to blame for how things went down with Gray? No. Maybe? I did immediately jump to conclusions. And I do feel bad about that now. He was trying to tell me the truth and I wouldn’t listen. Fuck. Is it too late?

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