Page 79 of Matchmaking the Rival

Oh my gosh. How can someone be so hateful?

"Shut your mouth. You don't disrespect her like that," Cade chastised her.

"Hey, I'm right here." I got in her face. "You can't talk to me like that." All through high school—college too—mean girls tried to make me feel like less of a person. As I became an adult, I refused to put up with that. Yes, it hurt when I was called names or talked about, but what I looked like didn’t define who I was.

She snorted. "Oh, you're bitchy, too, and drunk. My God, Cade. I'm not even going to tell people we dated, knowing you keep this sort of company. It's going to look bad on me."

"Feel free to never mention my name," Cade said nonchalantly. "I don't ever mention yours."

Esther's eyes turned hard. She tightened her coat around her, looking even slimmer than before. I didn't think that was possible. Next to her, I really looked like I was a freaking basketball rolling down the street.

"He has standards, you know," she said, staring at me. "He might have forgotten them, but not for long. He’ll kick you to the curb soon enough."

"Fuck off, Esther," Cade said before I could say it myself.

So I added, “Right now.”

She smiled at us, almost viciously. "My pleasure."

"Come on, let's go," he said, keeping an arm around my shoulders as we walked.

I tossed the empty cup in a nearby bin a bit more aggressively than necessary. Esther pissed me off. I let her bring up some of those old feelings, which made me even madder. As a kid, I always felt a little troubled because of my size. But then I learned that size didn't define me. If someone insulted me, it always boiled down to their own insecurities. Esther obviously didn’t like the fact that Cade was with me and not her.

“I’ll get us an Uber,” he said. “Do you want to go to my place?”

“Sure.” I couldn’t tell if Cade had just brushed off the whole encounter or was hiding his take on the whole thing.

A couple minutes later, we were already inside a car. I was quiet during the drive, completely pissed. Who did she think she was? I hated that it affected me so much. Esther tried to embarrass me in front of Cade. That was plain cruel.

I'd always been confident, especially after graduating. Then again, perhaps my confidence had also stemmed from the fact that there were fewer bullies in adulthood. In high school, no one had a filter; they said whatever they wanted, even if it hurt people. But grownups usually had better manners, except for this bitch.

Don't react like this, Meredith. Someone else's opinion of you doesn't diminish your worth.

But no matter how much I repeated that in my mind, I couldn't help but think about the fact that Cade used to go out with someone who looked like a model.

Oh God. I'm not just jealous. I'mdrunkjealous.

Cade moved closer to me. “Are you okay, there, drunk girl?”

I nodded, pressing my lips together. I kind of wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

“Why so silent?”

“I’m afraid I’ll make a fool of myself,” I whispered.

Where did that confession come from?

He winked, interlacing his fingers with mine. “Got it. Then let’s go home.”

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