Page 70 of The Grump I Loathe

What a fucking asshole. “And did he ever?—”

“—fix it?” Eddie barked a laugh, taking another swig of her wine. “No. He basically said if I wanted our relationship to work, I should let him have the win for his career. He oh-so-generously added that I could get credit for the next one. So, anyway, I broke up with him and now I try not to look back because if I do, I fall into that pit of regret.”

“Regret that it’s over?”

“Regret that I wasted my time on him in the first place. I thought I wanted him, so much so that I was willing to compromise on a lot. Then it blew up in my face, and if I chose to stay with him, it would mean giving up a part of myself.”

“You couldn’t have known how it would turn out,” I said, a hollow ache of understanding echoing inside me. I could relate to more of Eddie’s story than I’d ever care to admit. Truth was, staying with Ali, trying to make it work all these years, had demanded I give up part of myself. But I’d been willing to do it for Grace.

“Just like you couldn’t have known how it would turn out with Ali,” she replied.

I reached for her hand, squeezing. “Now I’m glad you stopped me from meeting him that day at the con.”

A smile replaced her frown. It only looked the tiniest bit forced. “Told you I was saving your butt.”

“You were right.”

“The magic words,” she said, picking up her spoon. “Those will also get you far.” She glanced down at my plate. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“Saving room,” I said.

“For what?”

“To take you home and devour you.”

Her cheeks flushed. “Geez, at least let a girl finish her dessert first.”

I picked up my own spoon, diving into my dessert, holding her gaze as I licked my spoon clean.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she said, glancing away.

I smirked as my phone buzzed. It was a text from my mother.X got the movie! He’s invited me to Italy for six weeks while they shoot!

Six weeks? My mood immediately plummeted.

“Everything okay?” Eddie asked.

I opened my mouth, wanting to explain the disappointment that welled inside me, wanting to explain the frustration I felt knowing X had waltzed into Mom’s life without any real idea of what he was dealing with. He put her in situations that could be triggering, and hell if he had any clue how to protect her.

I did. I was the one who kept her safe. And how could I do that when she was being whisked away to the other side of the world? But as she smiled at me, I knew Eddie would just try to find the positive, and while that worked for some things, it wouldn’t for this.

“Nothing. All good.” I stuffed my phone away, reminding myself to have a serious talk with Mom when I got home.

21

EDDIE

“Get back here,” Connor grumbled from his side of the bed. He had one arm tossed over his eyes, shielding his face from the soft afternoon light that spilled past the condo blinds, the other thrown out, fingers wiggling for my attention. “When I said naked in my bed, I meant that literally.”

“I’ve been naked in your bed for hours,” I said, crouching on the floor to find my phone charger. My phone had died sometime between rounds two and three, though I supposed if we were counting the entire weekend, we were now on round…I’d lost count.

“I had you booked out for the whole weekend,” Connor said. “It’s only Sunday afternoon. My time isn’t up yet.”

“And what if I had other things to do with my time?” I asked, knowing damn well the only place I wanted to be was curled up next to him. We were currently occupying the downtown condo he’d bought right after his divorce.

He and Grace had lived here for a short time before he’d bought their fancy-schmancy mansion—though Connor kept insisting it wasn’t amansion. Unlike the house-that-was-definitely-a-mansion, which was done up to suit Grace’s tastes, the condo looked like a model home except for the splashes of color I’d added this past week.

“Impossible,” he said. “What could be as important as this?”