Page 98 of The Grump I Loathe

“So, you haven’t heard from him other than that?”

I grimaced. “He popped up in my emails.”

“You’re not serious?”

“He said he’s giving the keynote speech today and that he’d really like me to see it.”

Noah’s eyes widened. He snatched up the program, flipping it open. “How did I miss that?”

“Because when do we ever pay attention to the keynote speech?”

He tossed the program down. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“Because I was trying not to think about it,” I muttered. “Because there’s a teeny, tiny part of me that’s actually a little curious.”

“Oh, Eddie.”

I dropped my head into my hands, groaning. “I know.I know!”

He sighed. “You’re a glutton for punishment.” He walked around the table and placed his hands on my shoulders. “How do you want to play this?”

I didn’t know. I hadn’t laid eyes on Connor since I’d quit, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to see him again. I’d literally just stopped crying myself to sleep. “Part of me wants to run away.”

“We can do that,” Noah said. “But don’t forget that you deserve to be here. Networking. Showing off your skills.”

“I do,” I agreed. I deserved to live my dream. I’d walked away when things fell apart with Ryker, letting go ofLethal Deceptionand all the hard work I’d done on that game. I wasn’t about to do the same thing here. I wasn’t going to compromise what I wanted. Not anymore.

I wasn’t letting Connor run me off because I was too cowardly to face him.

“Then I guess we should head over to the hall,” Noah said, nodding in the direction some of the participants were moving.

“Okay,” I agreed. “But let’s sit in the back?”

“Last row, right near the door,” he said. “So we can be the first to bail.”

“Perfect.”

He released me, I sucked in a deep breath, and—“Ow!”

I clutched my shoulder, whirling around to see who had just hit me hard enough to nearly dislocate my arm. I laid eyes on that familiar skater-boy fringe. Ryker flicked his hair out of his eyes.

“Seriously?” I called. Did I really need to deal with both my exes today? “What’s your problem?”

He scowled. “Stop standing in the middle of the aisle.”

“Or, here’s a thought, you could watch where you’re going!” I snapped.

“She’s right, dude,” Noah chimed in. “There’s five hundred square feet for you to navigate. Try harder.”

Ryker just glared at me. “You really couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“And now you’re gonna play dumb?” He sneered. “Doesn’t suit you, Eddie. Just own up to it.”

I barked a humorless laugh, throwing my hands out. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Ryker shook his head, disgusted. “Whatever. I hope you’re happy now.” He stormed off, shouldering more people out of the way. Grumbles followed in his wake along with angry glares from all the people he treated like obstacles meant to be knocked over instead of navigated around.