Page 142 of Wild Thing
“Maybe I’ve got a story you haven’t heard.”
Her eyes flicked back to mine. “Yeah? Try me.”
“I’ve been having an affair with my ex. And tonight, I found out he’s engaged,” I paused, letting that fact settle. “Oh, and his fiancée found out about me, too.”
Her eyebrows lifted slightly as she let out a quiet whistle. “Oh. Brutal.”
“Yeah,” I leaned forward against the bar, my lips twitching in a bitter half-smile. “Still think I should forgive myself?”
She gave me a long, assessing look before responding. “Maybe not tonight. But someday, yeah. Everyone’s got their shit. You’ll figure yours out.”
I wasn’t so sure.
The bartender picked up a cloth and began wiping down her station.
“Forgiving someone isn’t done because people deserve it. It’s done because it sets you free. That goes for forgiving yourself too.”
I could have cried at her non-judgmental response.
The topic of forgiveness lingered with me, circling back to Brax and Ally.
Did he beg her for forgiveness now that we were over? Was she cursing him? Cursing me?
Or maybe they’d had the fights of all fights and the engagement was over. Then again, maybe they were tangled up in wild, makeup sex.
Any of it felt possible. All of it hurt.
“I think I’ve seen you two in here together before. Tattooed guy? Tall?”
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s him.”
She nodded, setting a clean glass on the counter. “Why’d you two break up in the first place?”
“We were young. I moved overseas; he didn’t want to. So, we broke up.”
The matter-of-fact way I summarized the most important relationship in my life surprised me.
“Ah,” she said with a slight tilt of her head. “And then you found each other again.”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter now.”
She picked up a glass and started polishing it, her movements slow and deliberate. “Why not? Aren’t you two free to be together now?”
“No.”
Her brows knitted together in confusion. “Why?”
“He lied to me. I had no idea he was engaged. I thought he only had a girlfriend.”
She froze for a moment, then scoffed. “Damn,” she muttered under her breath as she set down the glass she had been polishing and picked up another.
“What?"
“Nothing.”
“No. Say what you were going to say.”
“Help me understand it,” she said, leaning slightly closer. “You were happy to engage in an affair knowing he was in a relationship, but hearing he was engaged—that’s what changed things for you?”
