The Dating Game (Alphalicious Billionaires 5)

What kind of a life was that?

He was far happier when he’d been pretending that he had nothing.

But that wasn’t real. That wasn’t who he was. The problem was, now that he’d got an honest glimpse of his life, he didn’t exactly like it. He just didn’t know how to fix it.

CHAPTER 22

Muffy

If there was a shittier week that had ever existed, Muffy didn’t know when it was. She was tired of going through the motions, pretending to be normal on the outside, while on the inside, she felt like a sack of poop because it just hurt so much.

It shouldn’t have. She’d been with Steve for a long time and when he dumped her, it made her feel shitty about herself, but it didn’t actually make her feel like real shit, true shit, the smelliest kind of shit. No, it had taken Alex to make her realize that there were definitely grades of shit.

Muffy was sprawled out on the couch, watching re-runs of some horrible bushcraft show where people had to survive on their own with almost no wilderness skills. She didn’t even like outdoor survival stuff, so her eyes were pretty much just glazed over, watching the images move across the screen. She was so out of it that she barely even noticed when Carla danced into the room and stood right in front of the TV.

“Want to go for ice cream?” She crossed her arms over her chest, making it pretty clear that she had no plans on moving anytime soon.

“No,” Muffy mumbled. “I don’t need any more calories. I’ve probably already consumed eight thousand times more than I should have this week.”

“Something salty then? Pizza? Fries? Fries with gravy? Fries with gravy and cheese?”

“No. That’s okay. Some other time.”

“How long is this pity party going to last anyway?”

“I don’t know. Can you move out of the way? I was watching that.”

“No, you weren’t. You were laying there like a zombie. Your eyes were totally glazed over and I think there was drool coming out of your mouth.”

Muffy actually swept her hand up to check. Of course, her mouth was dry. She sat up and rolled her eyes. “Haha, very funny. Hilarious.”

Carla tapped her toe impatiently. “You have to get out of the apartment. This is totally unhealthy.”

“I do get out. For work.”

“You called in sick on Monday so you could stay home and devour chocolate bars.”

“Yeah, well, I went the rest of the week. I think I deserve one day after being lied to and used like the brunt of some joke.”

“Are you most angry about that or about losing Alex?”

“Being used. I can’t lose something that I never had.”

Carla’s lips thinned out. “You and I both know that’s bullshit. You wouldn’t even hear him out. He called you like ten thousand times.”

“Yeah. There was a reason I dropped my phone into the tub and had to get a new one with a new number. Because I don’t want an explanation. There isn’t anything he can say that I’d actually want to hear. He lied. He used me. It was a game. That’s all. End of story. It’s like being the punchline of a really shitty joke.”

“I don’t think he’s laughing.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not going to feel sorry for him. Poor Mr. Rich Asshole can’t get a real date. I’m supposed to actually believe that and have sympathy for him? What about me? I’m not rich. I’m not anything. I can’t get dates either. Apparently, you don’t just get used because you have money. That’s the irony of this whole thing.”

“Yeah. I’ve realized that.”

Muffy nearly fell off the couch at the sound of the deep voice. There was the sound of a throat being cleared loudly and then Alex stepped out of the kitchen, beside Carla. Muffy gaped at him. How was it possible that she’d been so out of it she didn’t even hear the door open and close?

“How long have you been here?” she asked, her face flushing hot, even though she didn’t want it to. Her heart started doing a strange whomp, whomp, whomp beat that was terrifyingly loud.

“Long enough to hear that you had to change your number.”

“Long enough to hear that I don’t want to talk to you then.” Muffy crossed her arms over her chest, even though she knew it probably made her look like a petulant four-year-old. “The universe has made it pretty clear that there is no reason you should be here. I don’t need or want an apology. It’s redundant. You’re sorry, I’m sure, blah, blah, blah. I don’t want to hear it. There isn’t a single thing you can say that would make any of this better or make me want to forgive you for what you did.”

“I’m going out for ice cream,” Carla said loudly. “You had your chance to come, but you said no, so I’m going alone.”