I held up my hand, cutting off whatever he was going to say. “James, I’ve moved on, and there’s absolutely no chance in hellI would consider getting back together with you. So please stop texting me.”
With that, I turned and walked away.
Good thing I didn’t have to go back to the station because there was no way I could focus after what I’d just found out. My body vibrated with anger and I felt like I was on the brink of fighting tears. I needed a minute to process and collect myself.
Once I was far enough down Main Street, I pulled out my phone and opened my text thread with Hattie.
Me: Please tell me you’re at work.
Her family owned The Dock and she took care of the accounting side of things, so I was praying she was there today.
Hattie: Yeah, I’m here.
Me: I’m coming over. Might need a drink.
Hattie: Uh oh. What did asshole James do now?
I smiled. My nicknaming habit seemed to be rubbing off on her.
Me: He was cheating on me for at least a month. Probably more.
Hattie: I’ll have a shot ready for you when you get here.
Me: Thanks.
One drink, and then I would head home and lose myself in a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.
The Dock was super close, which was good. Less time to stew on it all. Or less time to plan a murder and decide which endangered shrubs to bury the body under.
Once I stepped through the door, I spotted Hattie standing with Savannah behind the bar and made my way toward them. Climbing up on a stool, I took the shot from Hattie and threw it back.
“Starting happy hour with shots?” Savannah smirked. “My kind of girl.”
“Well, when you find out your ex was cheating on you for more than a month, it requires shots.”
“Oh shit,” Savannah said before giving a slight shrug of her shoulders. “But you’re dating that hot as fuck firefighter now. Definitely leveled-up.”
I met Hattie’s gaze, and her lips twitched. “She has a point.”
I tried not to react. She knew I wasn’t really dating Seth. Telling her all about it at breakfast after Seth asked me to fake date him was a no-brainer. I couldn’t keep something like that from one of my close friends.
“Best thing you can do is show him you’ve moved on, and with someone a hell of a lot better than him.”
Right. That was my plan. That didn’t mean Seth wanted to continue to pretend to date me. But he was the one who started this crazy idea, after all, so maybe I could get him to agree to continue it.
Chapter Ten
SETH
I studiedthe cards in my hand, ignoring the looks aimed my way by the guys sitting at the table with me. This was the first time we’d sat down since starting our shift. Everything was done that needed to be done and now we were just killing time.
"Are you really dating Violet?” Logan asked.
And there it was. I could tell he’d wanted to say something since we sat down ten minutes earlier.
I looked across the table at him, keeping my features schooled in a neutral expression, waiting to see where he was taking this. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to say. Admit that I’d askedViolet to go out with me so the women in this town would leave me alone? The guys would give me crap for weeks. I’d likely never hear the end of it.
“You just saw us at lunch earlier.” I glanced back down at my cards, keeping my voice even as I pulled one from my hand and threw it on the discard pile.
