Page 70 of Tall, Dark, & Ginger

The sight of my man being bold even in the face of his obvious nerves makes my heart swell even more. I march over and clamp my hand on Trent’s shoulder.

“He doesn’t want to talk to you. Time to go.”

Trent shoves my hand away. “You made him leave me, didn’t you? He’d still be with me if it wasn’t for you. I see you guys walking home at night, holding hands and shit.” He turns back to Wren. “I can do that too. I know you needed more romance. I can be that guy. I miss you so much.”

Wren’s expression is hard to read, but the damn insecurity spreading through me isn’t. What if he still has some lingering feelings for this douche and decides to give him another shot just as I’m falling in love? That would be some shit.

“You’ve been following me?” Wren asks. “That’s unhinged.”

“I just wanted to talk to you, but you’re always with him. I want to show you that I can be the guy you want. I know I can. I saw you on TV. You made it, baby.”

“Don’t call me baby.” Wren’s voice is flat. His eyes flit to me for a second, and I want to run over and swoop him away from this loser. “I’ll talk to you outside.”

“No, Wren,” Salem says. “He’s been drinking.”

“I spent years of my life with him. I know how to handle it. Carlos can watch the kitchen for a few minutes.”

My heart beats rapidly with nerves. I’m not sure this is a good idea, but Wren is an adult.

“Five minutes,” Indy says, glaring at Trent. “If you’re not back inside by then, we’re coming out.”

Trent swallows visibly.

I watch helplessly as Wren walks out of the restaurant, followed by a man who has been described as abusive in the past. To say I’m a wreck is an understatement.

“He’ll be okay, man,” Indy says, rubbing my shoulder. “We’ve got his back.”

Nodding, I bite my bottom lip as they step out of view. This might be the longest five minutes of my life.

TWENTY-SIX

WREN

As soon aswe’re not front and center of the bar, I swing around to face Trent.

“You have a lot of nerve showing up here. This is my job, Trent.”

“You blocked me. I tried calling you and I even DM’d but I’m blocked. Was I so bad you had to do that?”

“Yeah.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Do I really need to explain that to you? You know what you did.”

“Okay, yeah, but I’m sorry. I haven’t stopped thinking about you at all. I know I messed up but you gotta give me another chance.”

“Why would I do that? I gave you a million chances to do right by me, and now it’s been over a year and you just show up expecting me to take you back?”

“Come on, baby. We had a good thing going.”

Shaking my head, I step back. “I told you not to call me baby. I want you to leave now. I’m busy at work and we’re not getting back together. You know that.”

“Because of that dude with the blue hair? Is that what you like now?”

“It’s none of your business what I do or who I do it with.”

Trent scratches the back of his head, a move I’ve seen a thousand times. It’s his thinking mode, his frantic search to figure out how to rope me back in, but this time my eyes are wide open. My therapist’s words ring in my head, and I realize this is my opportunity to say the things I should’ve said a long time ago. I’d rather Trent was sober for this conversation, but the chances of me talking to him again are slim. In fact, this is the last time as far as I’m concerned.

“Listen to me, Trent.”

He snaps his eyes to my face, a smile tugging at his lips. Oh, this guy. He thinks I’m warming up, but why wouldn’t he think that when it worked on me so many times before?

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