Page 74 of Winning You

She was quiet again. “You’re fucking with me.”

“Am I?”

The pause was longer this time. “Do you have anything that, like, you don’t have to cook? Like chips or something?”

He had a whole box of chips. “Nope. Have a nice day.”

“I see Doritos right there!”

“Where?”

“Right…oh. Um.”

He groped around, making a big show out of putting his hands on everything. He found the Doritos and sniffed the bag. “Smells like Doritos package.” He licked it. “Yeah. This is them. That’ll be two-fifty.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Okay. Have a nice day.” He tossed them to the side and reached up for the rolling shade for the window when he heardsomeone laughing. His heart leapt into his throat as he froze and leaned out the window further. “An audience? Really?”

“That was quite the show.” The voice was a low rumble that he recognized, and he really, really wanted to punch the guy. He’d only heard him once, but his voice was seared into Lucas’s brain for good.

“What the literal, actual fuck are you doing here?”

“You recognize me? Are you really blind?”

Lucas had been asked that four times today, and he’d reached his limit. Digging his thumbnails right under his lower eyelid, he popped his eyes out and slammed them on the counter. “Do you want to see inside the sockets, or?—”

“No. Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Lucas felt a bitter laugh creep up into his chest. “You don’t want to offend me, but you have no problem being an abusive piece of shit who?—”

“Whoa. Listen, you have the wrong idea about me, okay? Fallon is a liar.”

Lucas almost choked on his own tongue. “Really?”

“Yes. And the truth is, I know.”

Lucas had started to reach for the rolling shade again, and he froze. “Know what?”

“About you two.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Oh? What do you think you know?”

He heard footsteps approaching. Charlie—if he was remembering right—was approaching in the way people did when they were trying to sneak up on him. But it was yet another case of people who had no idea of the small sounds they made.

He turned his head just slightly to the right as Charlie came to a stop. He was maybe two or three feet away. But Lucas could be wrong about that distance.

“I think that I know he’s been cheating on me with you. I’ve seen you go over to his brother’s place a bunch of times when he’s there.”

“Stalking is so not cute. You know that, right?” Lucas said.

Charlie sighed. “He won’t talk to me. I wanted to let him know that I forgive him. That all he has to do is say sorry, and we can go back to the way things were.”

“That is maybe the saddest thing I have heard all week. And people have said some horrible shit to me today,” Lucas sighed. “I think I?—”

The rest of his words were cut off when a hand curled into his front. He wasn’t expecting it and was entirely thrown off. And then there was pain. Two blows to the face, right below his left eye socket, before he managed to shove Charlie off him.

He was shaking so hard he could barely get his hands to work, but he managed to reach up and pull the metal shade down just as something—probably Charlie’s fist—hit the side of the truck. He scrambled backward, then dove for the door and managed to flick the lock before falling onto his ass.