Igor took his place at the table directly across from her and began to defend himself. “Listen, Quinn. I know I did something really shitty to you—”
“That’s not why I’m here, Igor. I’m not here to yell angry words at you, to humiliate you—or Shawna for that matter. Honest.” She didn’t even know why she was here. But then that urge she’d felt before came back tenfold, punching her in the stomach.
His eyes became guarded again. “So why are you here?”
Because the universe seems to think this scenario is LOL?
“Honestly? I don’t know. It just sort of happened, but while I’m here, I just want to say something to you, if that’s okay.”
“Okay,” he said, with hesitance riddling his tone.
“I hope you’re happy,” Quinn said with a smile, readying to slide out of the booth.
He grabbed her hand, to the tune of chair legs scraping the floor from across the room as Nina prepared to beat him down and Khristos warned her to ease up.
“Wait. Please, Quinn.”
Quinn fought a chuckle and held up a hand to thwart Nina. “For?”
Igor swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his nervousness. “I want to say something, too. I’m sorry I hurt you. Really sorry. It’s been on my mind, keeping me up at night since we broke up. But I need you to know something. Shawna and I never slept together while you and I were together. I know that’s what you thought, and I didn’t do a very good job of defending myself. But she made it clear I had to leave you before any funny business happened, and she was right.”
Quinn fought a gasp. Their last moments together had been fraught with angry words and her tears as she’d packed her things and stormed out the door. This revelation was a surprise. One she was glad of—it made Igor a better man than she’d originally thought.
“I’ve hurt a lot of people trying to figure out me, Quinn, but I’m sorriest I hurt you. This thing with Shawna…I know she’s not what you’d expect, as smart and well-rounded as you are. But there’s a quality to her, for lack of a better phrase, vocabulary skills I find endearing. I like that she needs me. She has a big heart. She’s kind, nurturing. I can relax with her. I don’t know…it just—”
“Happened. I get it, and it’s okay. Sometimes the person you’d least expect ends up being the person you love the most. I’m actually okay. I know people say that out of spite when on the inside they want to gouge their ex’s eyes out with a nail file, but for me, it’s true. We were a mistake from the start, and I see that now.”
His chuckle was as ironic as his smile. “I’ve been thinking a lot about that, too. About who I am for falling in love with someone else when you were so good to me. But I have this weird sort of self-discovery thing happening lately. I always felt like I was pretending with you. Pretending I was as well-read and knowledgeable. I don’t have to pretend with Shawna. I don’t have to pretend I’m something I’m just not. She’s okay with the fact that we’re pretty damn different. I don’t have to outsmart her or outthink her. I’m not doing things I really don’t enjoy just to keep from being lonely. And it’s a relief. But how I ended up here? That’s on me. I did those things to myself, and I regret every wasted moment.”
Khristos’s words came back to haunt her, but she wasn’t angry about them anymore. She was grateful. Grateful to share this moment of closure with Igor.
“Funny you should mention self-discovery. I did those things, too, Igor. I turned you into someone you weren’t in my head, and I let myself get carried way far away. I’ve done it before and it was wrong. So, I was wrong, too.”
“Did this self-discovery also include breast implants?” Then he pressed his wrist over his mouth. “Sorry. That was insensitive and rude, but they’re hard to miss. You really went all the way.”
Yet, she wasn’t at all insulted. Instead, she snickered. “Long story you’d never believe. They’re not implants but some weird medical thing I picked up in Greece. It’s almost too fluky to explain.”
He paused a moment, the tic above his eye pulsing, the one that acted up when he was genuinely concerned. “So you really are okay, Quinn?”
“Yep. I’ve packed up my shivs and testicle-removers for good, where you’re concerned.”
Now Igor laughed, shaking his head. “I’ve dreaded this moment, you know. Thought about it. Visualized it.”
“Bet it went a lot better than the movie you made up in your head, huh?”
“Yeah. That was filled with carnage and entrails,” he joked.