Page 88 of Fumbled Beginning

Maverick looked nervous. “Rylee, what’s going on in that head of yours?”

I patted his leg. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

* * *

I walked into the restaurant and spotted him immediately. Brushing past the hostess, I stormed over to the table where Dom and his little group of friends were having happy hour in the middle of a workday.

His head snapped up, and he looked scared when he saw my angry face. Good!

“Rylee.” He smiled tightly and gave me a once-over. He knew I could be a loose cannon, so he should have expected this.

“I have some things I need to say to you. We can do this in front of your buddies here or in private, your choice.”

I gave Cole and Gavin a little wave while Dom took a slow sip of his drink. He was lucky I was even giving him an option. Lord knew he didn’t deserve one. I should have called him out and made sure everyone knew what a terrible person he was.

“I’ve been expecting you. Of course, I’d like to talk to you.”

He was playing it off, trying to act like he was doing me a huge favor, sparing me a second of his time.

“How generous of you.” Sarcasm rolled off the tip of my tongue.

“Uh…we’ve got to get back to work,” Cole said right before they both jumped from their chairs, threw a few dollar bills on the table and scurried away, not even bothering to say goodbye. Smart move.

Dom held his hands up. “Before you lay into me, I want you to know that I have reasons for doing what I did.”

I stared down at the little weasel, wondering what it was that I ever saw in him in the first place. Most people would find him attractive and charming, but they would be repulsed if they knew the real him.

“I don’t care about your reasons,” I hissed, feeling my cheeks heat. “JP broke up with me. Are you happy?”

“No, I’m not happy. Have you seen my face?”

I smiled, noticing the light bruising and swelling. “What did you expect? You lied and made him think things that weren’t true.”

He scoffed. “The guy is a psycho. He’s unhinged and you should stay far away from him. If anything, you should be thanking me. I did you a favor.”

“If you truly believe that, then the only one who is unhinged is you,” I snapped back.

He rolled his eyes. “You’re being dramatic.”

The man was exasperating. How I managed to put up with him for two years, I would never understand.

“You ruined my life. JP doesn’t want anything to do with me because of your lies.”

He rattled the ice around in his tumbler without looking up. “They weren’t really all lies though, were they? I heard everything, Rylee, and what little blanks were left to fill in were quickly found with a few internet searches.”

“What have I ever done to you? Why would you do this?”

He lifted his gaze to mine, and I noticed his eyes were bloodshot. “It might not seem like it now, but I was simply looking out for you. You don’t belong with him.”

“Says, who?”

“Says the guy who is still in love with you,” he said and went back to eating the hamburger on his plate. I opened my mouth and shut it at how casual he was being about this. I wanted to flip the table over and demand an apology for ruining my life, but one of us had to act like an adult.

“You love me, huh?” I leaned in, pushing his plate aside before he could take another bite. “That’s a lie. The only person you love is yourself.”

He shifted his eyes across the room, trying to see if anyone was paying attention.

“I knew you were going to be pissed, and I thought about all the different ways I could have explained this to you.”

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