Page 35 of How to Break My Heart

My imagination has betrayed me, along with my body, but the rest of me refuses to let him win. Whatever game he’s playing, I’m going to beat him to the finish line. Make his life just as miserable as he enjoys making mine.

I glance out the window to the house’s first floor, where his room is located.

“Game on, Beaumont,” I whisper with a grin. “Payback is going to be sweet.”

CHAPTER 10Eva

On my drive back from Beaumont Manor, I questioned everything the universe was throwing at me. Aston knows how to crawl under my skin and bury himself in there like a parasite sucking the life out of me. There was a chip on my shoulder the size of Jupiter, so I blasted angry-girl music to release my frustration with the whole situation. I belted out a song at the top of my lungs, trying desperately to erase Aston’s infuriating invitation to watch him shower.

The nerve of him.

And the worst part of all of this, a side of me, while minuscule, and I’m talking so minuscule you could barely find it with a magnifying glass, imagined what he would look like naked in the shower.

Yes, that image flashed before my eyes.

And my body reacted almost instantly.

Traitor.

On my way home from the manor, my gas light came on, and while at the gas station, Marco invited me to the Spice House for dinner.

I felt like the universe knew I needed a break.

What’s the saying, again?You can get over someone by getting under someone else?Or something to that effect.

Not that I’mtryingto get over Aston.

I’m simply trying to forget he’s an asshole.

Besides, Marco is friendly and handsome but doesn’t strike me as a man who would take a woman to bed on a first date. He has respect. Unlike the man-whore I know who would bed a woman in the first ten minutes of meeting her.

Nevertheless, my afternoon and mood have improved. I light my favorite strawberries-and-champagne scented candle and nestle into my favorite plush reading chair with a book. Billie suggested this love triangle romance will pull me out of my funk. I enjoyed reading, but not as much as Billie and Maddy. They easily binge read two or three books a week, making it impossible for me to keep up. There are a few book clubs in town, depending on the genre you’re into, but I realized I’m a slow reader and can’t keep the pace like others.

For me, I want to savor the moment, and the words. When I lose myself, I know the book will linger in my thoughts as I lie in bed falling asleep. Given that I have zero romance in my life, the next best thing is living vicariously through the characters.

Well, maybe not zero since Marco asked me out to dinner.

The plot has started getting angsty, and I am super invested in this billionaire losing his mind over this woman dating another man, until my phone rings and Maddy’s name flashes on the screen for FaceTime.

She lets out an exasperated sigh. “Can I please tell you about the day I had?”

I nod, gesturing for her to go on.

“So, I started with work stuff… the whole reason I even drove into the city today,” she says, rolling her eyes. “And, miracle of miracles, it didn’t take as long as I thought. So, I figured, hey, might as well do some shoe shopping for my dress.”

I chuckle. “That sounds pretty harmless so far.”

“Harmless? Ha!” she scoffs. “I nearly broke my ankle in theseridiculous high heels I thought I could pull off. Who was I kidding?”

“Sounds rough,” I say, stifling a laugh. “How high were they?”

“High enough to make me look like I was using stilts. Oh, and then, as if things weren’t already on a downhill slide, I get a call from Myles’s mother,” she continues, her voice dropping as she says it. “I swear, these calls always leave me feeling… I don’t know, on edge.”

“Yikes. Did she go off on one of her rants?”

“Don’t even get me started,” she groans. “And just when I think I can finally get home, there’s this… rat.”

I blink, holding back a laugh. “A rat?”