Always Have: A Bad Boy Romance(32)

I hear him take a breath. “Yeah, I kind of knew this was coming. It sucks, Kylie. You’re a great girl.”

“Thanks,” I say. “I just … I can’t pretend, you know? I realized this isn’t going anywhere. We both deserve better than that.”

“I suppose we do,” he says.

Wow. This is, like, the easiest breakup I’ve ever had. We don’t even have stuff at each other’s places to worry about. “You okay?”

“Sure,” he says. “I’ll be fine. Take care, Kylie. It’s been real.”

“Yeah, you too.”

I hang up and sink down into the couch. I’m so grateful that’s over. It’s a ding to my pride that he didn’t try to change my mind, but I suppose that confirms I did the right thing.

Now what?

I need to tell Selene. Maybe she’ll be inspired to dump Matthew. She never has anything nice to say about their relationship anymore.

But it’s not Selene who floods my mind. It’s Braxton.

I wouldn’t normally get hold of him just to tell him I broke up with someone—not unless I was heartbroken and wanted to cry on his shoulder, which has happened more times than I’d like to admit.

I’m certainly not heartbroken now. But Derek was his client. I should give him a heads up. Just because of the impact to his business. That’s all.

I could text him, but I find myself dialing his number.

“Hey, baby girl,” he says.

My heart wants to leap out of my chest at the sound of his voice.

“Hi, Brax,” I say. Go on. Just say it. “If you’re not busy, do you want to grab dinner?”

Wait, why did I say that? I don’t need to do this in person.

“Love to,” he says. “Tonight?”

“Sure,” I say. Okay, this is fine. “Meet me at Brody’s in an hour?”

“I’ll be there,” he says.

***


I sit in a booth at the back of the restaurant. I’m glad they gave me this spot. I feel protected back here, without many customers nearby. I’m so jumpy, my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest.

Braxton comes in, sunglasses on his face. Fuck, he’s beautiful. His muscles strain against his black shirt; his jeans drape perfectly down his strong legs. I can’t see his ass but I know how amazing it is, especially in those jeans. He pulls his sunglasses off and grins at me across the restaurant.

My tummy flutters like I’m a little girl with a crush. I smile and take a quick sip of water. Why am I so nervous? All I want to do is tell him I broke up with Derek. That shouldn’t be a big deal. He and I have been through more than our share of relationships over the years. Why does this feel like such momentous news? Like everything is going to change when I tell him?

He slides into the booth, and a waitress appears. She looks admiringly at him, more or less ignoring me. It pisses me off. I want to push her away from the table and tell her to stop f*cking looking at him.

I take a deep breath. Wow, I’m really tense. I need to calm down, or I’m going to do something stupid. Very stupid.

Braxton orders a beer, and the waitress asks if I want a drink. I stick with water. I don’t want to drink tonight. I need all of my inhibitions in full force. I need a f*cking wall of inhibitions to protect me. I cannot let him see what I’m feeling.

“You look great,” he says.

“Thanks,” I say. I haven’t seen him since the day he made me soup. Since the day I realized… No, don’t think about that, Kylie. “It’s nice to be in the land of the living again.”

“No shit.”

The waitress brings his beer. He winks at her and my back tightens.

This. This is why I have to keep these horribly traitorous feelings to myself. Braxton is a player to the zillionth degree. He’ll probably get that waitress’s phone number and f*ck her before the week is out.

I am not equipped to deal with him.

“So, what’s up?” he asks. “Other than you need to f*cking eat something. You look like you lost ten pounds.”

I did lose weight when I was sick, and it isn’t the good way to lose it. My face looks pretty gaunt. “I know, right?” I force a casual tone that I do not feel. “I think I’ll have a burger and fries. Maybe we should get an appetizer. Wanna share something? Onion rings sound really good.”

I’m talking too fast, and Brax looks at me like he can tell there’s something going on. “You okay?”

“Sure, it’s just been too long since I got out of the house.”

He nods, but I see in his face that he doesn’t believe me. The waitress returns and he orders three appetizers. “You need to put some meat back on,” he says after she leaves.

“I broke up with Derek.” I blurt out the words before I can think.

Braxton’s face goes still, his eyes burning with intensity. He stares at me and his chest moves faster, his breath quickening. “What?”

Oh, shit. He’s pissed. I should have talked to him first. Derek was his client.

“I’m sorry, I know he was your client,” I say. “I hope this doesn’t mess anything up with your business.”

His eyebrows draw together. “Business? No. No, I don’t care.”