Five Ways to Fall (Ten Tiny Breaths #4)(25)

“Hey, Jared.” I’d love to sound indifferent or flippant, but I can’t keep the softness from my voice. Jared’s very presence has always had a tranquilizing effect on me. From the corner of my eye, I notice Ben’s eyebrow spike as his gaze shifts to my arm, where the noticeable tattoo remains.

“Wow, you look so . . . different.”

I flick a few strands of my hair. “New job requirement.” A wobble in my voice belies my casual answer. I hate it.

Jared’s attention turns to Ben, quickly scanning his upper body, before moving back to me. “What are you doing in Miami?”

“I live here. I moved nine months ago.” Right after you ripped out my heart.

“Huh, Lina didn’t say anything about that.” That’s because she would have tortured you if she could get away with it. My straight-laced friend has a mean streak just waiting to be unleashed, probably worse than mine. “We just moved here about . . . uh . . .” He frowns, seemingly flustered.

“Two weeks ago,” Caroline finishes for him in her heavy southern drawl, adding, “into a fantastic condo by the water.” Her cheek rests against his shoulder. “Right, honey?”

That seems to snap him out of it. “Yes. Right.” He bites his lip. “I got a welding job down here. Working on ships.”

“Just like you always wanted,” I murmur, hazarding a direct look into his eyes. They’re still as piercing as always.

“Exactly.” A small, quiet smile touches his lips. Jared’s never been a big grinner. Not like Ben. He’s naturally reserved, choosing to sit back and take the crowd in rather than lead the charge.

There’s a long pause during which Jared simply stares at me and I grit my teeth and Caroline seems intent on molding herself to his body. This is beyond awkward. The only one who seems perfectly at ease is Ben. By the wide smile on his face, the bastard is enjoying this.

He sticks a hand out. “Hi, I’m Ben.”

With a slight nod, Jared accepts it. “Jared.”

“The ex-husband, right?”

Jared’s face twists with a hint of displeasure. “And this is Caroline.”

Ben winks at her. “The mistress.”

With a slight pucker, she tucks her hair behind her ear and offers, “The wife. Jared and I have been together since we were twelve.” As if that justifies everything. I hear the hidden message clearly. My marriage to him was a frivolous blip in their planned life of happiness.

“Right.” The dryness in Ben’s voice is rare but unmistakable. He obviously doesn’t care if he offends anyone and he’s happy to pet the elephant in the room. Part of me wants to kiss him. The other wants to punch him square in the nose.

Thankfully, he changes topic and tempo in a heartbeat. “Great place here, down by the water.”

“I know, right?” Caroline’s eyes lighten up and I wonder if it’s all an act. If she’s really this cheerful and sweet. “I just love their coffee. I come here every morning.”

I know this already. I know because last Tuesday I sat out on a park bench and waited almost an hour for her to appear. She comes in for her morning coffee at eight thirty. Then she walks four blocks west to an old renovated house where she’s an administrative assistant for an insurance brokerage. I know this because I followed her from the café to her place of work.

And I am well aware that what I did is entirely unhealthy.

“So you must have just gotten married. Congratulations.”

Does Ben not miss a damn thing? Men are not supposed to notice these things. And men like Ben are definitely not supposed to notice these things. I shoot a “way-to-bring-that-up” glare his way but he ignores me, keeping his eyes on the happy couple.

“Yes. Back in July, in Savannah. It was the most beautiful, classy wedding.”

A perfectly targeted knife through my back, directly into my heart. As if that weren’t enough, I catch her thumb worm its way under the sleeve of Jared’s T-shirt, playfully drawing circles as she pushes the material up to reveal a new tattoo. A cloaked figure holding up a welding torch.

Right where my name used to be.

I close my eyes against the painful lump in my throat and the dull ache swelling inside my chest, wishing I were wearing a long-sleeved shirt or my riding jacket right now. Anything to cover up the tattoo that I haven’t rid my body of. I don’t doubt for a second that the move was completely intentional on her part. Caroline isn’t the sweet little Georgia peach she pretends to be.

This is just too much to handle. I always knew that actually facing Jared for the first time since our appalling breakup would be difficult. I just never comprehended the magnitude of the ripple through my carefully guarded heart, seeing the very real and very painful way in which he has moved on and, in so many ways, I have not.

Jared clears his throat and lifts his arm over Caroline’s shoulder, effectively hiding the tattoo from my line of sight. “So, where are you working these days, Reese?”

I’m still trying to find my voice when the sound of Ben’s chair scraping pulls me from my silent hell. “She works at my law firm,” Ben answers for me. He stands and takes my hand, hauling me out of my chair. I follow blindly.

“Law firm?” Jared’s eyes spike with disbelief as Ben throws an arm over my shoulders. Now that Ben’s standing, the difference in size between the two of them is staggering. I always thought Jared was big, but he’s on the lean side in comparison.