Page 57 of Revenge Puck

Aaron: You’ve already had more of my time than you were worth.

Harsh, I know, but I’m pissed.

Across the room, Storm is laughing about something, helmet under his arm, hair still damp from the shower, as if he’s thecenterfold in a men’s cologne ad. Someone flicks a towel at his ass.

He dodges it.

Laughs and tosses a T-shirt.

Bailey: NOT WORTH IT? That was so rude. That actually hurt my feelings, you asshole.

Of course I’m the asshole here. Somehow, I am the villain.

Bailey: You don’t get to talk to me like that after everything we shared.

Shared?

Like she didn’t also share herself with my teammate, then act surprised when the math stopped mathing? I knew she was delusional, but I didn’t realize how crazy she was.

Aaron: I don’t??

Aaron: But like, are you going to beg me to forgive you? Why the hell would I EVER do that?

Bailey: It wouldn’t kill you to be a decent person about this.

Aaron: It wouldn’t? ’Cause from my perspective it would LOL.

Bailey: I made one mistake and you’re going to make me pay for it for the rest of my life?

That almost makes me laugh out loud.One mistake?

One, but it was a fucking doozy.

Aaron: You made a choice—and you were my girlfriend. It’s not like you were my wife. We were never going to make it, so…

Bailey: Now you’re just being cruel.

Aaron: No, that’s the reality.

I’m halfway through typing something I’ll probably regret when my phone buzzes again.

It’s Juliette.

My last message to Bailey is glowing below Juliette’s message. Angry and bitter, the unfinished business hijacking my entire afternoon.

I rub a hand over my face, already tired of this version of myself—a man who lets emotions get the better of him and speaks to people who do not serve my well-being. That is not who I am.

But Iamsomeone who finishes what he starts.

Aaron: We’re done. Don’t text me again.

Send.

Then I open Juliette’s message.

Juliette: GOOD LUCK at your game tonight! Don’t let Storm trip over his own skates.

Her message is harmless; thoughtful in a way that feels sweet and, based on what little I know about her, I guess she probably attempted to text me forty times before hitting send on that one.