My only goal had been to apologize to Austin for treating her like shit and being distant; anything beyond that, I wasn’t sure I could stomach.
But now that my dad was in the hospital, I figured the truth was getting closer to being exposed, and I’d rather she hear it from me first.
God, my parents were so good at ruining my life, weren’t they?
And now they were going to ruin hers.
Fantastic.
My nose throbbed. Luckily, I didn’t think the bastard broke anything, though it hurt like hell to the touch. When I’d texted Lucas for Austin’s location, he hadn’t said jack shit about her being on a date.
So I wasn’t prepared to see another man touching her hand—my hand.
I still felt those hands slide down my skin at night when I fought back the anxiety over our breakup. I still dreamed of the woman attached to those hands.
My nose pulsed—yeah, life wasn’t fair, not by a long shot.
“We’ll pick up your car tomorrow.” Austin finally stopped the silent treatment as we pulled in front of my apartment complex and she got out of her car, slamming the door behind her.
I followed suit, and hated that she was making me feel small, like I was the one who had done something wrong—I did just defend her honor, right?
The bastard was touching her!
The worst part? He was allowed to.
She wasn’t mine.
My fault.
I’d done this.
And I was finished.
I couldn’t even handle him breathing near her and touching? No. Just no.
Thinking about it was almost as bad as reliving it. His hands looked manicured. What the hell type of man goes and gets manicures?
His suit made me want to puke.
And I could have sworn I saw a ring on one of his fingers, and not a wedding ring, no, a gaudy gold thing that looked like he was one step away from becoming a pimp.
I followed her up to my apartment, dug my keys out of my pocket, and quickly ushered her inside. Dad was supposed to still be at the hospital, but I didn’t want to take any chances of a run-in—not before I got a chance to talk to her about everything.
“Um, were you robbed?” Austin asked once we made it inside and I flicked on a few lights in the kitchen and living room.
I searched for a towel and some ice, and muttered, “No.”
“You sure about that?” She pointed to all the magazines lying on the floor in front of the couch, the clothes thrown all over my floor, and the dirty dishes in the sink.
Yeah, I was normally a complete clean freak. I liked to be organized in both my personal and professional life—and Austin knew this.
So my apartment looking like shit? Out of character.
“I may have lost my temper.” I glowered at her.
“And you took out your temper on the clothes? What about the dirty dishes?” She walked around the breakfast bar and shook her head at the sink. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly.
“Bullshit.” Her blue eyes searched mine. “Thatch, you punched a complete stranger tonight, and your apartment looks like the police broke in to search for crack.”
I snorted. “What if I told you I wanted you to leave it alone, just for tonight?”
She licked her lips, her gaze traveling across the counter as she no doubt took in the mess. “I’d say you’ve probably left it alone too long, but it’s not my place, not anymore.” She turned toward the sink and flipped the faucet; water started pouring out.
I frowned, the motion hurting like hell. “What are you doing?”
“Dishes.”
“Austin—”
“You should go lie down.”
“Austin, you don’t have to do my dishes.” Austin in my apartment was a bad idea, a horrible idea. It made me want things that I knew weren’t within my reach, not anymore.
“I want to do your dishes.” She started washing off plates and putting them in the dishwasher. “Now, talk dirty to me.”
I nearly tripped over my feet on the way to the couch. “What?”
She glanced over her right shoulder and smirked. “Tell me all the dirty details about liposuction. Ready. Go!”
I smiled, a real smile, and lay back against my leather couch. “That’s what you want to talk about? Fat sucking?”
“Can you really die from it, like Cher’s mom in Clueless?”
“Huh?” The hell was she talking about?
“Pop-culture reference, I’m disappointed in your lack of knowledge.”
I shrugged even though she couldn’t see me. “I didn’t really watch a lot of TV when I was little.” I was too busy trying to stay away from my parents, so I basically enrolled in every after-school program you could think of. Besides, when they weren’t home, it felt too lonely and empty in that big house.
A familiar pressure settled on my shoulders, spreading across my chest like a vise.
“Thatch?”
“Sorry, did you say something?”
“Yeah, but I like talking to myself. I do it all the time at my house. I swear I haven’t seen my parents in days.”
Yeah, I bet.
“Oh?” My skin prickled with both awareness and knowledge.
“Eh, it’s normal.”
I closed my eyes as the throbbing in my nose lessened.
“Hey.” Austin was suddenly next to me—I smelled her before I even opened my eyes. “Other than a good old nose job where you get to chip away at someone’s bone with a freaking hammer . . .”
I smirked.
“What’s your favorite surgery to perform?”
I frowned. “Nobody’s ever really asked me that.”
“Well, now that you have exactly”—she held up her fingers and checked her phone—“ten fans.” Austin shrugged. “You gotta give them what they want, and one of my commentators wants to know what type of surgery you prefer. I figure I can use that as my third blog post this week.”
I tilted my head and then patted the spot next to me on the couch. I had no idea why she was being so nice after I kept treating her like shit, but I’d take it.
She bounced onto the couch next to me and tugged her knees underneath her body, exposing a lot of leg.
Too much leg.
Yeah, being friends with Austin very well might kill me dead.
“Alright.” I cleared my throat. “So, I don’t know if I would call it my favorite, but I love a good tummy tuck.”
Austin’s wide-eyed expression was classic. “You like tucking people’s stomachs into their bodies and cutting out fat?”
“It’s a bit more complex than that, but I get a lot of middle-aged women who get tummy tucks after popping out multiple kids, and I always think to myself, ‘That’s the least I can do,’ you know? Help them get their pre-baby bodies back. Women come in after severe weight loss, and it’s just, I don’t know, I sound like an idiot probably, but it’s an honor to work on them.”
Austin’s smile couldn’t get any bigger. “Well, I’ll be damned, Thatch Holloway has a heart.”
“Hah-hah.” I shook my head. “Yeah, well, don’t tell anyone. Wouldn’t want to ruin my jackass reputation.”