Zoe took a sip from her coffee and gave me a pitiful look. “I’m sorry, Chad, I just can’t do this. Not now. Not with a new book coming up. I have to be on Costa Rica in a week, and if Mark plays dirty, the publisher might just ground me to pacify him.”
“To pacify him?” I asked, looking at her as if she were crazy. “What about you? I thought you were a big shot author? How about pacifying you?”
“Mark isn’t small league, Chad,” Zoe said. “Besides, I don’t want to go head to head with him on this. The more he pushes, the dirtier it will get. I don’t want to go through all that.”
“So, you’re going to let him just walk all over you and force you to push me away?”
Her head snapped up, and she looked at me with eyes that shot daggers. I didn’t give two shits about making her mad. I was equally pissed off, and didn’t really care if I hurt her feelings or not. This whole thing was fucking ridiculous. I suddenly regretted ever coming to New York City.
“I’ve thought long and hard about this,” Zoe said.
“Since when? This morning?” I asked, scoffing. “Looks like you made up your mind pretty fucking quick.”
“That’s not fair,” Zoe said. “You can’t expect me to just throw away everything I’ve worked for all these years just to be with you.”
“Just to be with me?”
“Well, I mean— “
I held up a hand to stop her right there. “You know, I thought this time things could have been different, but I was obviously either too naïve or too fucking stupid to realize that I was just banking on a stupid dream. But you know what? You’re right. You have worked too hard to throw everything away just to be with me.”
“Chad.”
“No, that’s fine,” I said, pushing off the sofa to make my way to the door. “Have fun in Costa fucking Rica, Zoe. Great to see you, as always.”
She followed me to the door. “Chad, seriously, it doesn’t have to end like this.”
I turned around and shot her an angry glare that made her stop in her tracks. “End like this?” I asked. “Honey, you can’t end what never started. We fucked, that was it. I’m seeing it all clearly now. Thank you for opening my eyes. Next time I need a reality check, I’ll be sure to call Zoe Maxwell. Or just pick up your fucking book and read for myself how our story ends.”
I stormed out, slamming the door behind me.
I didn’t ever expect to see Zoe Maxwell again.
* * *
“You really fucked up this time, man.”
I was in the back of a taxi on the way to the hotel. My phone was to my ear, and Martin was screaming at me. I didn’t hear half the things he said, every second word either ‘fuck’ or ‘shit’, his voice coming through as static with every shout. At one point, I had to hold the phone away just so I could hear him properly.
“What the hell were you thinking? Are you fucking insane? You just threw the shit we’ve been fucking working on for years away, and for what, some girl?”
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “How bad is it?” I asked.
“How bad is it!” Martin huffed. “How fucking bad do you fucking think it is?”
“Martin. Calm the fuck down and just tell me. How bad?”
“Very bad!” Martin yelled. “Colossal! So bad we might as well kiss Body by Chad New York City goodbye!”
“It’s a lawsuit, not the death sentence,” I said, trying to act calm when I was anything but. I kept imagining that Mark guy in front of me as I pounded the living hell out of him.
“It might as well be!” Martin shot back. “The guy’s suing for millions, man! And he’s fucking quick, too. You beat the shit out of a lawyer, a well-connected New York lawyer! He’s coming for us like a bat out of hell, man! This is fucking bad!”
“Can we settle?” I asked.
“Are you drunk? Did you not hear a word I just said? This isn’t about money, dude. He’s already rich. This is about revenge!”
“Can you calm down, or am I going to have to punch you to your senses?”