Chapter 8: Someone New
He does a double take when they make the announcement. Somehow, it just doesn't seem possible. He has no right to have an opinion, but he can't stand the guy. The way he is with her. The way she is with him. The way they are together.
It has more depth to it than any of her previous relationships (not that he's been paying attention), and a twinge of something irritating comes over him. It's annoyed, upset, and hurt all tied into one, a spark of envy so uncalled for that it brings him back to the raw emotion that coursed through him for months after their breakup.
After over three years together, it wasn't a clean break and they both reveled in the messiness of it until they reached a breaking point. She'd get caught making out with some high profile celebrity at a bar and he'd drunk dial her crying about it. He'd send another girl a flirty glance at a party and she'd pounce on him in the coat closet.
Aftershocks.
They couldn't be together but they couldn't quite be apart either.
He remembers one particularly eventful evening when he decided to do it on purpose just to see what would happen. They were at a black tie charity event in L.A. on their first official break from filming since the breakup and its the longest they've been apart since they first met. He's miserable, but he blames it on any number of other things just to keep him sane.
If he's honest with himself, the entire evening revolved around her—his cologne, his suit, his date—all carefully calculated to catch her eye. And it works like a charm. When he catches her eye from across the room, it's dizzying, and when he breaks her gaze to offer his date his arm, he feels her staring holes through him.
This game they play is more addictive than any high he could ever chase, and it isn't long before he steps outside to get a breath of fresh air and she's following him out onto the terrace.
"Are you happy with her?" She asks, hot tears bursting from her eyes as she runs her hand through her hair subconsciously like she always does when he sends her over the edge. They both know she's being reckless, letting her emotions take over, but in many ways he likes her best like this. Angry. Passionate. Unmistakably and unabashedly his.
She launches herself at him without warning, but he could see it coming from a mile away and he sighs into her kiss like he couldn't go another second without it. Before he gets completely consumed by her, he has sense enough to tell his date he's feeling sick while she's calling an Uber, and when they get back to her place, it's all hands and tongues and skin against skin, whispering wordlessly what neither of them is bold enough to say.
Time changes everything. He knows that. Things are so very different now than they were before when he was so caught up in her that he couldn't tell you the color of his date's eyes, the same date he went on to marry.
He can't help but wonder if this is her attempt at doing the exact same thing.