“It wasn’t a game.” I squeeze my fists together. “I just… I told you from the start, this breakup with Joel… it was hard on me. I mean, he and I were together for over ten years. When it ended, I just…” I chance a look up at Dean’s dark eyes. I see the tiniest bit of sympathy there, so I plow forward. “But I’m here because… I’m over it. After tonight, it’s behind me. I promise that.”
“You can’t make that kind of promise.”
“But I can,” I insist. “I don’t want to play games either. I can’t stop thinking about you and… if there’s any chance you still feel the same way…”
Dean is shaking his head at me. I have really screwed this up. He’s a great guy and I blew it. He’s got a date with another girl—one who doesn’t have two tons of baggage. I don’t even know why I’m bothering.
He fumbles around in his pocket and pulls out his phone. He punches some buttons on the screen.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
That crooked smile returns. “I’m canceling my date.”
For the first time since I walked in here, my heart soars. “You… you are?”
“Yeah.” He shoves his phone back in his pocket. “There was no point if I was just going to spend the whole date thinking about kissing you.”
Now it’s my turn to smile. “You would?”
“Well…” He takes a step closer to me. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since our night out. So.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t return your calls,” I say. “I was acting like an idiot. You’re the first guy I’ve liked since Joel, and I guess I just… I panicked. I went crazy.”
“Yeah, I did some dumb things after I got dumped.” It’s the first time Dean admitted he was the dumpee in his breakup. “I mean, I left town. Moved halfway across the country. That’s pretty crazy.”
I can’t even begin to admit to Dean some of the things I’ve done. Better he thinks he won the crazy competition. “Yeah, that’s pretty crazy. But I’m glad you did.”
“You know what?” His smile widens until my heart starts to flutter. “So am I.”
And then he kisses me.
Chapter 52: The Ex
The same night I was in Francesca’s apartment, she died in the bathtub.
Nobody knows I was the last person to see her alive. Even Joel, who was the one who found her. He didn’t know about that, and he didn’t know Francesca was pregnant. He only found out after the autopsy. He might have been able to deal with feeling like he caused her suicide, but the baby pushed him over the edge. It took him several months before he could go back to work again, to the job he loved.
But he did eventually go back. He got better. His friends talked to him about getting back in the dating market, but he resisted for a long time. Over a year. Every time someone would mention a girl he might like, he’d mumble, “I can’t.” He was even more of a mess than I was when he broke up with me.
But then he met Cassie.
I liked Cassie the first time I saw her. She was everything Francesca wasn’t—sweet, earnest, and pretty in a fresh-faced sort of way. I could see how much Joel liked her. He was able to finally move on.
As for me, Dean and I went out on our second date the night I met him at work, and he kissed me again before he said goodnight. It was another incredible kiss. This time when he called me the next day, I picked up on the first ring—no games. Within a few weeks, we were practically living together. I’d never felt this way about anyone before, even Joel. In fact, I was grateful to Joel for ending things between us so I could experience this kind of love. After we were together for less than a year, I became the wife of Dr. Constantine Pourakis, called Con by his friends and Dean by the people he’s closest to.