Page 38 of The Problem with Fire
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Or is it because I’m the rebound?” he asked harshly, and I couldn’t believe my ears.
“What?”I asked, not recognizing my own voice.
“The rebound?” he repeated. “You’re going to let me break you back in, but the seriousness will come later when you meet a guy closer to your age and more to your liking.” And that’s how I knew Karma had been right.
I had to be in love with Sayer Hayes or else this conversation wouldn’t be hurting so much.
“Get out,” I told him, my voice steady, in no way exposing the hysteria about to take over.
His arms dropped to his sides, and he reached for me. “Monr-”
I flinched and jumped back.“Get. Out.”I hissed.“Get out of my house, Sayer.”
“Monroe-”
Pointing towards the front door, my words were screams, this time. “Get out of my house!”
His face blanched and I could tell he knew he’d just fucked up big time. “Baby-” I shook my head at him, heartbreak really threatening to erupt and humiliate me, and I was tired of being humiliated in front of men who were supposed to care about me.
I might be in love with Sayer Hayes, but I wasn’t going to be stupid about it like I had been with Thomas.
Never. Fucking. Again.
“Get out, Sayer,” I said, stopping whatever bullshit apology he was on the verge of giving. “Get. Out.” I wasn’t sure what he saw on my face, in my eyes, but he gave me a tight nod and I could feel my lungs begin to function again.
His hand on the doorknob, he paused, his back towards me. “I’ll give you some space,” he said. “But we’re not done here, Monroe.”
I didn’t respond as he walked out the door. I mean, what was there to say?
No way was I doing this shit again.
Chapter 20
Sayer~
Can’t say I saw this coming.
I mean, I’ve fucked up before in my life, but nothing on this scale. Or maybe nothing’s ever mattered to me like this before.
After Monroe had kicked me out of her house yesterday, I had gone back to the firehouse and it was a good thing we hadn’t had any alarms, because I wouldn’t have been good to no one. I had fucked up and I knew it.
I also knew I had fucked up big time.
This wasn’t a little misunderstanding that could be fixed by a couple of beers and the willingness to listen. This was the aftereffects of me being a possessive asshole who had reacted to Thomas’ threats even after telling myself that he wasn’t a threat to me and Monroe.
Even after Monroe telling me he wasn’t a threat.
Monroe had put him below the rank of the sexy UPS guy, and I hadn’t heard her. I had felt threatened enough to go over to her house, fuck her like it was our last time, insult her intelligence, and criticize how she was raising her kid.
I was such a fucking asshole.
“Come on, man,” Kellen said. “She’ll come around.”
“I can’t believe I let that asshole get inside my head,” I grimaced. “I knew better. Iknowbetter.” We were sitting on the back of one of the trucks, all the guys knowing I fucked up yesterday. When I had returned to the firehouse, I wasn’t embarrassed to admit I had been a fucking mess.
“This is the first time you’ve ever been in love,” Kellen remarked. “Cut yourself some slack.”
I let out a dark laugh. “Yeah. I’m sure Monroe really cares about that.”
