“There ya go. Now. Tell me about the foundation. How’s stuff with all that going?”
Chapter 20
Hailey
Of course, he would be at the fucking diner with Drew. Of course, he would ask me to come over like nothing was wrong. He didn’t think I was onto him, but I was. It was no coincidence that he was over there the same afternoon that his two-faced bitch came stomping into my gallery. Maybe they were going to meet up after his fun little dinner with Drew, or maybe they were going to walk the beach after I left the gallery.
Either way, I sure as hell wasn’t having dinner with him.
I got into my car and took off down the road. I was ready to get home, sink myself into bed, and go the fuck to sleep. There was no way in this world Bryan didn’t know that woman. She knew intimate details about his life, about his tattoos on his body and his family’s cabin when John was still alive. She knew them. Both of them. And she knew about his work at the foundation.
There was no way that woman was lying about all of that. And even if she was, what the hell was her motive? Coming in there and making comments about my weight and how Bryan was going to leave me over it. Those were the tactics of an overconfident other woman. Someone Bryan might’ve fucked around with on one of our ‘off seasons’ or some shit. Maybe she was trying to wiggle her way back into his world by trying to shove me out by casting seeds of doubt that would rift us apart.
And if that was her plan, then it was fucking working.
My hands gripped the steering wheel as I raced home. I drove through my favorite fast food joint and decided to have at it tonight. No more fucking salads and fruit juices to try and keep my weight under control. It sure as hell wasn’t making a difference. I could taste a double bacon cheeseburger and cheese fries like it was right against my lips, and I was going to have it.
I drove through the drive-through and tossed caution to the wind. I got myself the burger I wanted piled high with all the bacon I knew I could handle. I supersized the cheese fries and got the most caffeinated soda they had. I drove home, my vision dripping red as I slammed out of my car.
I stalked into the kitchen and stood over the sink as I began to eat my food.
Grease and ketchup dripped against the stainless steel. I moaned with every bite I took, feeling my double-chin grow larger by the second. I swallowed bites so big it hurt going down, and I chugged my soda as I felt the glorious caffeine shoot through my veins. I felt alive. Ever since I’d gotten pregnant, I tried to follow everything by the book. I didn’t give into cravings, and I ate only fresh foods. I stayed away from caffeine altogether, and I started painting with paints that were nontoxic. Hell, I fucking switched out my deodorant and stopped dying my hair because I knew those chemicals were toxic for my growing child!
But not tonight.
Now, I’d had enough.
I’d had enough of being pregnant and not having control of my body. I’d had enough of the drama and the world crumbling around us. I wished we hadn’t come back from Europe. I wished we had stayed in Barcelona. I was ready to call Ramon up right now and hand-deliver those fucking paintings to him before planning another art tour that would keep me away for good. I could settle along the vineyards of Italy and drink and paint for the rest of my life. I could get fat off freshly-made pastas and wake up to freshly-baked pastries. I could grow as fat as I pleased and paint pictures for people who enjoyed my art until the day I passed from this earth.
“Hailey?”
Bryan’s voice pulled me from my thoughts as I swallowed the fries I was chewing.
“Can this wait?” I asked. “I’m eating.”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I snickered and shook my head before I took another bite of my burger.
“Please talk to me,” he said. “Don’t keep shutting me out.”
“I’m hungry,” I said.
I grabbed my soda and took a massive chug before I swallowed everything down.
“Is that a soda?” Bryan asked.
“It very well is. You got a problem with that?” I asked.
“I thought you were cutting out caffeine is all,” he said.
“Things change. You okay with that?” I asked.
“Whatever you need, you know I’ll give it to you.”
“Uh-huh.”
I took another bite of my burger and moaned as the grease dripped down my face.
“Rough day at the gallery?”
“You have no fucking idea,” I said.
“Wanna talk about it?”
If that was what this man wanted, then bring on the jousting. I was ready to pierce his chest, rip it open, and shove all the hurt and pain I was experiencing into him, so he could deal with this shit.
“Do you know a Laura?” I asked.
“Doesn’t ring a bell. Why?” Bryan asked.
“Tall. Thin. Toned muscles. Long blond hair. Ocean blue eyes. Doesn’t ring a bell?” I asked.
Bryan’s silence caused me to turn my head and look at him. I saw the shocked expression running over his face as I took another bite of my burger. I felt the ketchup dripping down my chin, but I didn’t care. He knew exactly who I was talking about. I finally had him in the corner I wanted, and I was about to pounce.
“I’m not sure how you would know her, but if it’s Laura Green, then yes. I do know a Laura.”
“Funny how you didn’t know her a few seconds ago,” I said. “How do you know her?”
I stared Bryan down as I took another bite of my burger. He looked almost embarrassed. His eyes softened, and his gaze started bouncing around the kitchen. He shuffled on his feet as a sigh fell from his lips. He was shit at keeping secrets. He was shit at covering his tracks.
I could feel my anger, heavy with lead, sinking to my stomach as I swallowed down my greasy food.
“A long time ago, we were together,” Bryan said. “But it was a very brief time. Not even five months. I haven’t seen her since before I left for college, which was why I didn’t think you’d be talking about her.”
“Uh-huh. So, the two of you were together,” I said.
“We were.”
“Kissing and stuff.”
“She was my first kiss, yes,” he said.
“Oh, that’s a fun development. Did she take your virginity?” I asked.
“Hailey, where is this coming from? How do you know her?”
“I don’t think you’re the one in a position to be asking the questions,” I said.
“And why not?” he asked.
“So she did take your virginity. Fun stuff,” I said.
I took the last bite of my burger before I grabbed a napkin and turned back toward the sink. I cleaned my face off before I reached for the fries, swallowing my burger down. I moaned at how good the food tasted. How good grease tasted. How good fat tasted. I picked up a few cheese-covered fries and hovered them over my lips, dropping them into my mouth as Bryan’s eyes ran up and down my body.
“And you haven’t seen her lately?” I asked.
“Like I said, not since I left for college,” he said.
“No flings. No recent one-night stands. No faked late nights at the foundation?” I asked.
I turned my gaze back toward Bryan, and I saw it register on his face. He grimaced before he licked his lips like he was trying to swallow down a bad taste.
“Do you think I’m cheating on you?” Bryan asked.
“Is there any other reason why she would come into the gallery today?” I asked.
“Wait, Laura was in your gallery? Today?”
“She’s beautiful, you know. I could see you hooking up with someone like that on our off moments.”
“We haven’t had any off moments,” he said.
“We did when shit with John came to a head. We were distant when I got sick. Did you confide in her at all?”
“I haven’t seen her, Hailey. And I would never cheat on you. No matter what off moments you think we might’ve had.”
I looked into Bryan’s eyes as I took another bite of my cheesy fries. I wanted to believe him. My heart was reaching out for him. I wanted to cry in the crook of his neck and tell him all the horrible things that woman had said to me. But the intimate details she knew about Bryan. How she knew he worked at the foundation. She got that knowledge from somewhere.
“She came into the gallery today asking to see John’s paintings,” I said. “Said she wanted to get to the art showcase we did on him, but she was out of town for work.”
“Okay?” Bryan asked.
“She talked about your tattoos. She’s a real fan of them. Loved Drew’s work from the moment he did that picture of the cabin on your back.”
“I wasn’t with her when I got that tattoo, Hailey. Drew didn’t give me that until after I’d graduated high school,” Bryan said.
“She talked about your work at the foundation.”
“She did what?” he asked.
“Said it was the perfect position for you. Now, how would she know that?” I asked.
I slid another slice of cheesy goodness between my lips as my eyes studied Bryan. The man I had come to trust. The man that had broken down every single wall I had ever thrown up at him. The man who had fucked me and tossed me out onto his porch to try and work me out of his system. The man I still gravitated toward even after he tossed me out like trash.
“Seems like the two of you have talked recently,” I said.