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Her brow collapses. “Why?”
I lower my voice so Tatum can’t hear me. Funny enough, she’s singing along to “Let It Go,” cementing the idea that we might let all this shit go and become gypsies. “You werefuckingmy husband, Remi. That automatically makes usnotfriends.”
Her eyes flood with tears. “But I didn’t know he was married.”
My resting bitch face surfaces. “Yes, you did.”
“Okay.” She sighs and sits across from me. “I knew he was married, but he made it sound like you were awful.”
“Surprise.” I sit back in the booth, defeated. “I am.”
Halfway through Tatum’s very loud performance of “Let It Go,” Remi bursts into tears and cries into her palms. Fuck. Why me?
I have no idea if I should hug her, tell her to leave, or hand over my last bottle of wine. Let’s not get crazy. I’m not giving up my last bottle. “Are you okay?”
“I’m feeling really vulnerable right now.” She sobs. “I need someone to talk to.”
“Don’t you have friends?”
Her tears slow. “Believe it or not, other women don’t like me.”
“I wonder why.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Reaching forward, I touch her hands. “Remi, I’m sorry you’re going through a hard time. I’m sure this is traumatic for you, but I have a lot going on. I’m raising a kid, trying to figure out all this mess of my life. I have a business to run, and news flash, the guy you were fucking who was spoiling you with gifts, he had this family at home, lying to them, and wasn’t paying our bills. This house, it’s in foreclosure, and if I don’t do something soon, I’m going to lose it.”
Those gold eyes with the navy border peer back at me like I told her I wasn’t human. “Oh my God. Seriously?”
I nod. “Yes.” I haven’t gathered up the nerve to ask Remi any questions about Collin and her and how it started. I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t want to know or if I’m afraid. Either way, I don’t talk about them.
“I didn’t know.” Her mouth gaps open. “I wouldn’t have…. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, so I got my own shit going on, so I’m sorry, but I can’t be your friend right now.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Know anyone without a criminal record or a strange fetish who wants to rent a room?”
She taps her finger to her chin. “I might. Actually, I think Cason’s looking for a place.” Her cheeks warm. “You remember him, don’t you?” And then she offers the biggest smile I’ve ever seen, and I can see why she caught Collin’s attention. Hell, even I’m staring at her now.
Fuck.
Sadie comes inside the house. “I knew I shouldn’t have gone to class this morning.” She sets her bag on the table next to me and then slides into the booth beside Remi. “Hey, girl.”
Oh, super. We’re all best friends now. Me, my sister, my baby, and my husband’s lover. Perfect little family. Feeling like a weight is pinning me into the booth, I look up at Sadie. “Why?”
“Professor Shit-Shore bitched me out about not completing my personality project.” Sadie senses my mood and rubs my shoulder as Tatum starts “Let it Go” for the third time. “What’s wrong? How’d Leslie work out?”
“She’s ahooker,” Remi tells her before I can, whispering the words as if she’s a child and can’t say them loud enough for her parents to hear.
“Really?” Sadie eyes me. “That girl that drove the Jaguar?”
“Yep.”
“Just rent the room to the baseball player.” Sadie winks at me and sets an envelope she pulls from her bra on the table.