The Beauty of Us (Fusion #4)

“You should,” Scott says. He’s a successful Realtor in L.A., usually selling multimillion-dollar homes in West Beverly Hills. “The market is great right now, and your place is in a good location. Take me for a quick tour to refresh my memory, and I’ll call in someone to take photos for the website tomorrow.”

I lead him through, room by room, while Wendy stays in the living room, working on her phone.

“By the way,” Scott says as I lead him into the master, “I tried to call you several times this morning to let you know I was running a little late, and was sent to voice mail every time.”

“Well, I was on the phone with Riley.”

“For the past three hours?”

I frown. “No. I dropped my damn phone in the water a couple of weeks ago. The rice trick worked, but it’s not dependable.”

“You might want to go get a new one.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been kind of tied up with trying to get back to my girl, who is currently pissed at me for said phone, so yeah. Thanks for bringing it up.”

“I do what I can,” he says, and follows me through the rest of the house.

“So things with Riley aren’t great?” Scott asks as we return to the living room. Wendy looks up from her phone, listening.

“I haven’t been able to talk to her as much as either of us would like, and honestly, she’s pissed at me.”

I relay the last few days of conversations, getting frustrated all over again. “I’ve been busy at work, trying to get things tied up so I can go to Portland. She’s acting like I’m blatantly ignoring her.”

“Have you told her that you’re trying to get to Portland?” Scott asks.

“No. I want to surprise her.”

“Not a good idea,” he says, shaking his head. “Trust me on this one. Just tell her what’s going on.”

“She knows my phone is screwed, and she knows I’ve been busy at work.”

“That may not be the only problem,” Wendy says with a wince. “Have you looked at Facebook lately?”

“No.” I scowl as Wendy stands and walks to me, holding out her phone.

“Angie tagged you in this photo.”

I read the caption, and stare at the photo we took together the one time we met in person, close to ten years ago.

“What the fuck,” Scott mutters. “I thought you took care of her.”

“I thought so too,” I reply with a sigh. “What’s her deal?”

“Well, she’s clearly crazy,” Wendy says, rolling her eyes. “And she has a huge crush on you.”

“I don’t get it. I barely know her. I mean, I’ve known her for a long time, but only online. She’s nothing at all to me.”

“Sometimes you can’t explain crazy,” Wendy says with a shrug. “Just block her from everything and cut her off at the pass.” She continues to scroll through her phone and then gasps. “Holy fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” Scott and I ask in unison.

“So, this might also have added to Riley’s attitude.” Wendy bites her lip and looks uncomfortable.

“Show me.”

She closes her eyes and turns the phone to us, and my blood begins to fucking boil.

“Steph checked into Seduction.” Scott looks from me to Wendy and back again. “That’s the name of Riley’s place, right.”

“Right.” I pinch my nose and pace away, then back again. “Stephanie was there yesterday. Fucking hell.”

“I’m sorry,” Wendy says, tears springing to her eyes.

“Why are you sorry?” I ask.

“Well, I still talk to Stephanie. I mean, you don’t go from being friends for almost twenty years to nothing. And I truly thought she’d be happy for you. She’s moved on and seems happy, so I assumed she’d be happy for you too.”

“You told her I was seeing Riley.”

“I did. I’m sorry, I know it’s not my place, I really didn’t mean any harm.”

“I know,” I reply with a sigh. “So, Riley knew all of this last night when she called, and I blew her off.”

“Oh. Ouch,” Wendy says with a wince. “And if your phone has been shitty—”

“Who knows what I’ve missed,” I finish for her, and curse myself an asshole. “What the fuck am I going to do?”

“Get your ass to Portland and fix it,” Scott says. “If you love her, you need to go to her and make it right.”

“I can’t leave until Saturday,” I mutter, already making plans in my head. “I have meetings today and tomorrow, wrapping stuff up. I really want to secure this new show at Seduction so I can present it to all of five of them as a done deal, not just a possibility.”

“Can you do that remotely?” Wendy asks. “If I know Steph, I know that she most likely made a huge mess of things yesterday.”

“I can’t believe she went all the way to Portland.” I shake my head in disgust. “What is she trying to accomplish?”

“Well, you can ask her,” Scott says, gesturing out of the front window. The woman herself is walking up my sidewalk, a basket of something in her arms.

“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Wendy says. “If you think we’re leaving, you don’t know me very well.”

“I’ll need the witnesses,” I mutter, and pull the door open before she can ring the bell. “What do you want?”

“Hi, sweetheart,” she says with a wide smile. “I wanted to come by to say hi and bring you a little present.”

“Jesus, you’re a piece of work.” She walks past me into the house and stops short when she sees Scott and Wendy.

“Oh, hi, guys. Do you mind giving us some privacy?”

“They’re staying,” I say, my voice hard and unwavering. “You’re the one who’s leaving.”

“I just want to talk.” Her voice has a hint of desperation now. “I really miss you, Trev.”

“No, you don’t.”

She sets her basket down and links her hands in front of her, looking down.

“Why are you doing all of this, Steph? It was you who cheated and decided that I wasn’t enough for you. The divorce was mutual. It’s been years and you’re remarried. What the fuck is your problem?”

“I didn’t think you’d move on!” Her chest is heaving at her outburst, and her eyes fill with tears. “I thought you’d just stay single, and the thought of you being with someone else just kills me.”

“You’re a selfish bitch,” Wendy says.

“I never claimed to be anything else,” Steph replies with an unapologetic shrug. “If I can’t have you, I don’t want anyone else to have you either.”

“What did you say to Riley yesterday?”

“I told her the truth. That we are meant to be together and she should stand aside.”

“Christ,” I whisper, and rub my fingers over my mouth. “Listen very carefully because I’m only going to say this one time. I don’t want you. I never will. We are divorced, and you are gone from my life permanently.”

“Trevor,” she says, but I hold my hand up, stopping her.

“No. You can’t manipulate your way into this. Even if I wasn’t in love with Riley, which I am, you wouldn’t have a chance. You sealed that the day you decided to let another man stick his dick in you.”

“Ew,” Wendy says, then seals her lips shut.

“Get the fuck out of here, Steph. If you contact Riley ever again, I’ll have a restraining order issued, and I will sue you for harassment.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she sneers.

“Try me.”

“You loved me.”

“Past tense. Now you’re just some bitch who’s hurting my girlfriend. I won’t stand for it. If you think I’m bluffing, keep pushing and see what I do.”