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“Huh?” Ben gapes at her, and I can’t believe that only two minutes ago, I had thought he was handsome. What the hell came over me?
“Aspen’s iPad,” Liv says patiently, as though explaining something to a toddler. “Can you maybe check your bag?”
Ben frowns. “I doubt it would be in there. Aspen hardly ever goes into my briefcase…” Then he lights up. “Ah, maybe my car. Yeah, she used it to go to the store last night. I’ll go check.” He hurries out of the house, obviously eager to get away from Liv and me.
The silence he leaves behind is excruciating. Time to make my exit. I busy myself with gathering my phone and my purse, studiously avoiding all eye contact.
“What brings you here?” Liv says. Her tone is conversational, but her eyes are shrewd. Too shrewd. “Are you looking to buy?”
I force a smile. “Yeah. My kid’s getting a bit big for the apartment, so.” I shoulder my purse.
Liv considers me coolly. “Weren’t you and Aspen close before?”
What the hell is she trying to get at? I feel myself bristling. It’s a fight to keep the smile on my face. “Yep. We were.”
“And now you’re not, so you’re seducing her husband for revenge?” Liv says it so casually, in the tone one might use to order a kale and strawberry salad, that it takes a second for my mind to grasp the actual words.
“Found it!” Ben calls out, waving the iPad above his head triumphantly. He strides in with all the confidence of a mediocre man and hands Liv the iPad with a huge grin. “Anything else?” he says.
Liv tucks the iPad in her bag. “No, thank you, Ben. So helpful as always. See you! And Meredith, so nice to finally meet you in person. I’ve heard so much about you.” She gives me a nod and a knowing smile and walks out of the house.
Once she’s gone, Ben releases his breath in a loud sigh and mimes wiping his forehead. He widens his eyes at me. “Phew, that was a close call, huh?”
I stand there, frozen. His hand crawls toward mine, and I jump when his fingers wrap around mine. I can’t yank my hand away fast enough.
“Whoa, hey, you okay?” Ben says.
I jerk my head up and down and realize only when I follow Ben’s gaze that I’m wiping my hand on my jeans, as though his touch sullied it. “I think Liv saw us.”
Ben pales, but then he shakes his head and smiles. “Nah, she didn’t. I can tell.”
“No, Ben, she—”
“Trust me. Liv’s so…” He mimes fireworks around his head. “She’s so bubbly and—you know, kind of ditzy. If she saw us, we would know.”
Anger burns an acidic path up my chest. “So just because she’s ‘bubbly’ you think she’s too fucking stupid to pretend she didn’t see?”
Ben’s mouth drops open. “That’s not what I said at all. Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“That’s literally what you said,” I snap.
“I didn’t!”
“You fucking did!”
Ben raises his hands, shaking his head. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I think you need to leave now. You and Aspen are exactly the same crazy bitches.”
“The only reason crazy bitches exist is because there’s always some asshole gaslighting us into losing our shit,” I hiss.
Ben utters a short, mirthless laugh. “Okay, Mer. Whatever. Aspen’s right, there is no reasoning with you.”
More than anything, this is the one that cuts real deep. The knowledge that Aspen bitched to Ben about me. But of course she would; he’s her husband. Her husband whom I just kissed. Whom her personal assistant saw me kissing. God, how did this day get so utterly fucked?
“Fuck you, Ben,” I growl, and stomp out of there before he can get a last wordin.
14
ASPEN