“Now you’re going to tell me that you quit?”
“No! You are not staying.” I stamp my foot like I have the right to give orders. “You have other shit to do. Go take over the world somewhere else. This is my toilet paper company.”
“Well, technically, it’s mine now, but I’m sure I could make room for you. I did promise that no one was going to lose their job.”
“You can go eat a bag of butts. That’s what you can do.”
“Clean butts, I assume. Because they’ve been wiped with this fine, fine toilet paper that you and all these good folks produce?”
“We’re not a damn factory. We don’t produce it here. I just do the paperwork.” I realize he’s sucking me in. Of course, he knows that. He freaking bought it. I, like the rest of the ‘good folks’ here, now belong to Kayden Deroy, and how maddeningly disappointing is that?
“Of course. But I’m sure you must use your own product.”
“Duh. I get it for free!” I snap before clamping my mouth shut because this is not going anywhere. I’m just walking right into Kayden’s trap.
“So, just to be clear, you’re not quitting.”
“No! And just to be clear, you’re going to get tired of whatever game you’re playing and move the farge on, preferably sooner rather than later?”
“I actually planned on sticking around. At least until the house is finished and I get a few other things resolved.” By other things, it’s clear that Kayden means me.
That blows my mind. I have no idea what he thinks he can solve by coming here eight years after our breakup. What kind of shit could he possibly get together like this? Why invest a massive amount of money into this company when he could have just shown up at my door and asked for closure like any normal person would have done? Or perhaps phoned or emailed or something. He could have even texted if all else failed. All those options were free. But no. Kayden, in classic Kayden fashion, had to do something completely over the top. If this isn’t revenge, then I don’t know what is. Because seriously, closure my bottom, which of course I do clean with the company product. Duh.
#Whybuyitwhenyoucangetitforfree?
#Bestandcheapestbuttwipeinthewholeworld.
#Mylifeisgoingdownthegutteraswespeak.
“You really bought the old McMillan place? That house is a dump! It literally should have been condemned. It’s not fit for human habitation. At all.”
“I know. That’s why I plan on renovating it. I figure it will give me a good return for my money. It barely cost anything to buy since it was a foreclosure, and it’s in an up and coming neighborhood. Property values are rising monthly. I checked.”
What the ever-living fuckstack? He really has done his research.
“You know, this violates every single boundary of personal privacy. I could sue you for this. I could…I could just do something to you!”
“It’s kind of public knowledge where you live, and it’s also quite public knowledge as to where you work. All I had to do was make a couple of calls to some old mutual friends.”
“So, you didn’t actually hire a PI?”
“Oh, no, I did. By me, I meant him. The dark, shady guy I paid to follow you around and track your every move.” Kayden gives me that I’m kidding, not kidding, okay maybe I’m kidding, but maybe I’m also not kidding look, and it takes everything in me not to kick him in the balls. “As far as anyone’s concerned, this is just a big old fortunate quanky dank of a coincidence.” Kayden stands, and he’s so freaking tall and powerfully built that he seems to take up the entire freaking room. His dark brown eyes are too soft for his hard, chiseled face and those sharp Deroy cheekbones that run in his family.
God. There’s a reason why the past should just stay in the past. My heart flutters, and my insides give an uncharacteristic leap. I refuse to think of Kayden as handsome or attractive, but my girl clam isn’t on board. She’s ready to go ahead and admit that Kayden is super dang gorgeous. She might be recalling that we fit together pretty well back in the day. As in, our bodies and our lives. Basically, our everything. My mind might also be currently in the process of dredging up some wild and crazy nights that Kayden and I shared. Most of them were not fueled by alcohol even though we were in college, which unfortunately meant I remembered them all.
In pretty clear and vivid detail.
Kayden might be the best I ever had. Like, sexually. And he might have given me a few firsts. In return, I might also have given him a few things.
Cluckaduck, I am NOT going there. There is not going to be any revisiting old, buried memories. Just because the past suddenly showed up doesn’t mean the buzzing, flapping, and fanfare in the erogenous areas are acceptable. That’s right, nipples. That’s right, hoo-ha. It is all unfreakingacceptable.