Page 95 of Embers of You
I chew on my bottom lip, looking over at the building where Jameson is again. I’m not going to pine for someone who doesn’t want me. Even if it breaks my heart to think about never being with him again. Never getting to talk to him, or feel the way he touches me, or seeing how he looks at me. I blink away the tears threatening to fall.
“Sure, that sounds nice,” I tell Lily. “But no men with a duck bondage fetish or strippers with a skillet.”
“Don’t worry, you’re safe from both.”
She goes back to work, and I’m cleaning up when the sound of the front door makes my heart start to race. Maybe he’s here and came to see me. As soon as I turn around, whatever small amount of hope I had fizzles out instantly when I see that woman he used to date with her little miniature Goldendoodle next to her.
Lily steps out, and her face instantly turns into a glare. “How can we help you?”
“Daisy’s due for another haircut.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, I’m always able to be squeezed in.”
“Not today, we’re busy.” Lily folds her arms across her chest, and that’s when the woman—Mallory—looks over at me.
“Ah, you groomed her last time. You can do it again.”
“Uh…” I technically have time, but I’m also pretty sure my brain is short circuiting from the emotional few weeks coupled with the lack of sleep and proper nutrition for myself.
“Hello? I have somewhere to be. Can you take her or not?” she snaps and it somehow brings me back to the present.
It also pisses me off. The sadness I’ve been feeling fades as anger takes over and I’m done playing nice to people who don’t deserve it.
“No. And next time, you can make an appointment, instead of expecting us to work with your schedule.”
“Wow, you really won’t? So much for the customer always being right. I’m sure Trish will love to hear about this.”
“I’m sure she will. Feel free to tell her when you call and make an appointment with her.”
She scoffs looking me up and down before turning to leave.
I can’t help myself from calling out one last thing. “An Australian Goldendoodle isn’t even a real breed!”
The door slams, and I continue to glare at her as she walks out to the parking lot, but instead of going to her car she goes to the fire station and I swear I stop breathing. When she walks in, I feel like I may actually collapse. Lily must see the same thing as me because she lets out a little growling sound.
“That bitch. I’m sure she’s just going over there trying to be a desperate little hoebag,” she says.
“Sure.” I look away, not wanting to see anything else. “I think I may want something stronger than wine for this girls night.”
“You got it. You busy tonight?”
“Nope.”
I endedup inviting Bailey over for the impromptu girls night with Lily. I didn’t think too much about it at the time, but now that they’re both here in my house, I realize that I couldn’t have brought together two more polar opposite humans.
The night started off with some tension because Lily was in the middle of one of her outrageous stories when Bailey got here, and I think hearing about a “cum dumpster” tattoo dare before an introduction was a little much for her. Luckily, after everyone had a drink in their hand the tension dissipated a bit. My anger from earlier has only gotten worse. All the sadness I’ve been feeling has morphed and I want to call Jameson to scream at him.
I want to ask why he would push me away only to go back to her. Why he wouldn’t even have the decency to officially end things with me. How he could claim I’m his, only to turn around and treat me like I’m nothing so easily.
All while I thought he might actually love me.
“What will it be, Sutton?” Lily asks, bouncing on the balls of her feet and I realize I wasn’t paying attention.
“Sorry, what?”
“Are we playing never have I ever before or after the first movie?”
