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Guilt pricked hi to be bad And he deserved that But if he led with the truth…that he was fking madly and coe heart to forgive him And hopefully it would happen sooner than later

"Come on, boy," he called to the mastiff hined at the bottom of a massive oak tree He felt for theyou wanted one too far to get it?

The dog gave one s had come back inside, and he’d topped off his coffee when a car pulled up Grace Time to face the music

He set down his cup and sat at the kitchen table, racking his brain for how to start in a way thathi He’d come up empty on what to say other than that he loved her, but she cahts evaporated

She laid right into hi here drinking my coffee, Catman," she spat Her face was flushed with fury, and her dark eyes glittered like icy chunks of granite "Get the fk out of my house"

The hurt on her face made the coffee in his stomach curdle Too late It was too late She already knew the truth, and he hadn’t even gotten to explain…to make her understand For all she knew, it could’ve just been soet his dick wet He shook his head furiously, "Grace, listen--"

"No, I think I’ve listened to you both long enough" Her voice went thick and her chin trembled "Like when you told me how beautiful I was and fed me all those bullshit lines from behind your stupid mask about how much you wanted me But even worse than those lies?"

Her face crumpled then, and if ever he’d wished a sinkhole would open up and s him, it was now

"Was when you told me how you would always have ht you loved me, you know that? That was the reason I was afraid to look at you as more than that Because e had, before all," she sestured between the I’ve ever had You were my best friend, and you broke my heart and humiliated me Was that the plan? Or was it the thrill of the chase that kept yous and moved toward her, but her shout stopped hi me"

Gandalf pushed himself to his feet and positioned his massive body between theave Trick the hard eyes Et tu, canine? But fk if he didn’t deserve it You know youthinks you’re an asshole

He held up a hand and backed away "I’ to touch you I just want you to hear hed "Go ahead There’s nothing you can say to fix it, though, Trick You’ve proven toyou say urim smile chilled him to the bone as her words hammered into him like iron spikes How had he been so stupid? How could he not have seen how much of a betrayal this would see excuses for himself It didn’t seeuy he despised, and he’d hurt the woman he loved Terribly and willfully She stood with her chest heaving with fury, her face etched with pain, and all the excuses died on his lips Without a word, he forced his legs to carry hi like it had just been hit with a lead pipe

Because suddenly it was as clear as day The reason he never had a chance in hell of winding up with Gracie Love

He didn’t fking deserve her

…

Grace stared at the bowl of rapidly disintegrating cereal and sed a sob She had to get a grip Gandalf had beenfor a week, and she wasn’t about to let Trick wreck her and give her dog a case of the doggie depression on top of it She’d already allowed hiain, swift and sure, like a kidney punch It happened every tenhe’d done ca her what she drank, like he couldn’t recite her drink order at every restaurant in a tenhi her feel Sitting at thefor him to come in so she could act like a total slut for him…her anonymous lover

How could she have been so duht, the signs were all there The tingles, the way he fit against her, the way he’d y at the saht and opened theain to stare at the television screen blankly, not really even seeing as playing It had been a long and exhausting seven days, and it didn’t see better anyti in theat her poorly thrown dart flitted through her mind and with it came the pain, every bit as sharp as it had been the day she’d learned the truth She was still so frigginghim was even worse It eird because when Vic betrayed her, she’d been hurt, no doubt It had been the darkest tih the self-recri her future crumble before her eyes, she’d never missed him once it was over Not for a second He wasn’t the person she thought he was, and the person he actually was? Disgusted her

Another memory of Trick pushed itself to the forefront of her roaned Him stretched out on her bed, sheet loose around his hips, crooked grin on his face Nothing about thoughts of Trick disgusted her Pissed her off? Yes Made her want to scream with hu out into her stoust would have been better

She couldn’t avoid hi for work an hour earlier than usual so she didn’t see hi sure that she took Gandalf for a walk before Trick got hohbors, and their houses were only half an acre apart They were bound to coht ht the tank was eainst her calves, and she reached down to scratch his neck "You’re a good dog, you sweet boy, you I know you love it here, but wearound for a new house"

Maybe she’d move closer to work, near where Serena lived That would be nice They’d had a few rough days, but Grace had eventually forgiven her for her part in this uilt-ridden about the way things had turned out, but how could Grace really blame her? Trick had fooled her, too At least they were suckers together, and Serena had sworn on a pile of Manolo Blahniks never to lie to her again