Chapter 3

3

I stood there, momentarily stunned by her audacity.

"Fine. Let's do that," I said.

I wanted to see exactly what kind of game this Cleo was playing.

The second we connected on social media, she flashed me a look that was nothing short of a challenge.

I kept my face like stone. I wasn't going to let her see me crumble.

Seeing that she couldn't get a rise out of me, Cleo eventually turned her attention back to the table.

For the rest of the dinner, she interacted with Gavin more than I did.

To anyone watching, she looked more like his girlfriend than I did.

The rest of the guys at the table looked like they wanted to crawl under their chairs.

When the dinner finally ended, I expected Gavin to drive me home.

"Lana, take an Uber back. I have some stuff to finish at the office, and it's on the way to Cleo's place, so I'm dropping her off."

I stared at him, my jaw practically on the floor.

I knew perfectly well that our house was in the same direction as his office. Dropping me off would have been zero extra effort.

The absurdity of it almost made me laugh.

"You're going to drop off some random woman and leave your girlfriend standing on the sidewalk? Who is your actual partner here, Gavin?"

The frustration I'd been bottled up all night finally exploded.

Gavin's face darkened with a scowl. "Can you stop being so dramatic? There is nothing going on between me and Cleo. Why do you always assume the worst? I'm just being a decent boss."

His blatant impatience made me flinch.

There was a time when he would have driven across the state just to spend ten minutes with me.

He used to go out of his way even if it was completely inconvenient.

Something was fundamentally broken between us. I took a deep breath to steady my voice.

"Gavin, you haven't been home in days. And today is my birthday."

Gavin's expression softened for a split second, replaced by a flicker of guilt.

"It's okay, Mr. Quinton. You should take Miss Winslow home. I can wait for a cab here," Cleo said softly, playing the martyr.

Gavin looked relieved, then shot me a cold, resentful glance as he got into the driver's seat.

"Just get in. I'll take you home."

I had never seen him look at me with such icy indifference.

The man who used to be so warm and passionate was gone.

He had never even raised his voice at me before. Now, he acted like I was a burden.

I swallowed my pride and got into the car.

The silence during the drive was suffocating.

I was trying to find the right words, trying to figure out where we went wrong.

"Lana, you were really out of line tonight. Thank God Cleo was mature enough to step back, or you would have completely embarrassed me. What is wrong with you lately?"

His words felt like a physical blow to my chest.

He had never spoken to me like that before. Never.

"You honestly think I'm the one being unreasonable?"

"What else would you call it?"

"Then I have nothing left to say to you."

I leaned my head against the window and sighed.

When he pulled up to our house, he didn't even turn off the engine.

"You need to sit and think about your behavior. I have a lot going on, so I won't be coming back for a few days."

It didn't even hurt that much. He hadn't been home in so long that his absence felt normal now.

Whether he stayed or left didn't seem to matter anymore.