Page 23 of The Spite Date (Small Town Sisterhood #1)

The way his lips quirk. The light in his eyes. Definitely his nose.

I’m seeing Dad in him more and more these days.

And I’m not at all sad about that.

I like knowing our parents are living on in us.

“Do you love me enough to let me shower before you take all of the hot water?” he says.

Margot and Daphne are still giggling at the table, but they both look at me, then at each other, and then they simultaneously roll their eyes.

Hudson glances at them. “Don’t start, water hogs. Bea, give me five minutes. I need a shower.”

“Who’s a hot water hog?” Daphne says. “You better be fast. Margot’s taking me cheese shopping, and I don’t want to smell like I’m the cheese when we walk in the building.”

“I said I’ll be five minutes,” Hudson says.

“And we all know that means forty, because you’re going to the diner, and we all know who works at the diner on Sunday mornings.”

He flips her off and saunters back out of the kitchen.

She grins at me. “Your turn, Bea. What’s it gonna take for you to flip me off too? My day isn’t complete until I’ve annoyed everyone around me. And don’t smile while you do it. I need to know I seriously annoyed you.”

“How do you tolerate her every single day?” Margot asks me, also smiling.

“She’s like the fourth brother I never had.”

Margot laughs.

Daphne does too.

“Oh, hey, you know what we should all do after cheese and the carnival?” Daphne says.

“Eat and watch television and pretend I don’t have to go back to the city for work?” Margot says.

“We should go see Madame Petty.”

Margot slides a glance at her sister.

I pause with my tea halfway to my mouth.

“No,” we say together.

“Come on ,” Daphne says. “It’ll be fun.”

I shake my head. “There’s nothing fun about letting Madame Petty tell our fortunes.”

“This is the same fortune teller we saw right before you were cut off?” Margot says. “The one who more or less told you that you were about to be broke?”

“She’s super good for someone so young. I want to know what she thinks of Bea and Simon.”

Someone knocks on the door before I can once again tell her no.

I set my tea aside and head to answer it. My heart picks up a little.

Is Simon back?

Did he sober up and want to talk?

Don’t be stupid, Bea. He’s not coming back .

But my pulse is acting like a sugared-up middle schooler and I’m straightening my posture and swinging the door open with a smile as if he is.

As if I’d be glad to see him.

Which I would be, even if I don’t want to admit it to myself.

I’d like to know he’s not really angry with me. Not like I could’ve guessed I’d hit a nerve by using him to make my ex ragey when he didn’t care if I used him to get publicity for my business.

Or maybe I could’ve.

Actually, I probably should’ve.

And—oh, fuck me.

He’s not here.

Jake is.

Smile gone.

Jake’s in jeans and a casual blue button-down, with his hair immaculately in place, his cheeks freshly shaved.

I square my shoulders for battle instead of for flattering my posture as my pulse kicks even higher. “What do you want?”

He blows out a breath, then looks at me with a muscle ticking in his jaw. “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Fine, I’ll take you back.”

Daphne makes a strangled noise.

Or maybe that’s me.

Possibly both of us.

All I know is, I’m caught so off guard that I can momentarily only gape at him.

“Is that her ex?” Margot murmurs.

“Yeah. Watch how this is done,” Daphne murmurs back. “The part where an ex wants you back and you don’t take them back because they’re an ex for a reason.”

Margot hmph s. “We’re not discussing this.”

“But we should.”

Jake rolls his eyes. “Can we talk out here?”

“No,” all three of us say together.

I shoo the two of them back. Good thing Hudson’s in the shower.

He was supposed to have a full bedroom at Jake’s house all summer.

You know. Before Jake dumped me and stole my parents’ dream.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” I tell Jake. “We’re not getting back together.”

His expression turns suspiciously patient. “Go on. Get it all out.”

“Get what out?”

“All of the reasons you want to yell at me.”

I don’t like this.

I don’t like this at all. “I’m not going to yell at you.”

“You’re not?”

“No. I’m going to close this door, and you’re going to leave and never come back.”

He sticks his foot in the doorway. “Come on, Bea. We know this was just our temporary breakup to see how we could handle life without each other. And now it’s time to get back together.”

“What happened?” Daphne asks. “Did your chef quit?”

His cheeks flush. “No.”

“What about—what’s her name? Kim? Aren’t you dating Kim Womack?”

“Yes, but you know that doesn’t mean anything. She’s just a whore who likes to— fuck , Bea.” He leaps back, clutching his foot.

Yes, the foot that I just slammed in the door.

“Don’t call women whores, asshat.” I succeed in shutting the door this time. Then I lean in to it and raise my voice. “And in case you need it said again, I don’t want to get back together with you.”

“Simon Luckwood was using you, you moron,” he yells back. “If you think he wants anything other than in your pants, you’re wrong.”

“He’s really dumb, isn’t he?” Margot murmurs.

“It’s his ego. It squeezes all of the air out of the other parts of his brain.”

Margot looks at me.

Then at the door, which Jake is banging on again.

Then back at me.

The apartment door locks automatically when it’s shut, but I flip the deadbolt and add the chain lock too.

Just in case.

“It’s a man problem,” she says.

“Testosterone is the worst,” I agree.

We both look at Daphne, who’s wandered back into the kitchen.

She has her mischief face on, and it gets more mischievous as Jake pounds on the door again. “You know it’s inevitable, Bea,” he yells. “You know you want me. You know last night was you trying to get back with me. Don’t play hard to get. This is your last chance.”

“No hot coffee,” I say to Daphne the same time Margot says, “If you’re planning to kick him in the family jewels, you get one shot.”

“I was just thinking I’ll take the building super some donuts tomorrow. And get the hallway security footage. And maybe anonymously send it to the Athena’s Rest Business Association. And also, Bea, I think you should go see Simon.”

“I am not going to see Simon. He helped me do what I wanted to do, and clearly”—I gesture to the door, which gives one more shake as Jake hits it—“it worked.”

Margot’s frowning. “If he bangs on that door one more time, I’m calling the police.”

I glance at Daphne.

She grins. “Worked so well that you should do it again.”

But that’s the thing.

I don’t want to see Simon just to get back at Jake.

Now I want to see Simon for the simple joy of seeing Simon, when I suspect Simon never wants to see me again.

“Just think about it, Bea,” Daphne says. “Just think about it.”

I’ll think about it.

And I won’t do anything about it.

Because I’ve done enough to Simon, and this one is mine to handle.