Page 62 of Miss Treated

She rolled her eyes like I knew she would, but then she considered me with a completely sober expression. “You scare me.”

“I’m not so scary, I promise.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Kelsey

Sitting in a bar by myself while waiting for friends was a foreign sensation, even months after I’d left Joel.

We’d been one of those couples who went everywhere together. An outsider might have thought it cute when he never wanted to be separated from me. But in hindsight, it was clear he hadn’t wanted me to have my own interests, friends, or nights out. How better to control someone’s world than to be the entire thing?

I’d never forget the breaking point. Two nights before I’d left him, I’d been invited out by a couple women from the office. I’d told him I preferred to go alone, and he’d proceeded to claim they’d only asked me out because he’d requested they do so. Then he’d argued his presence would ensure I didn’t blow it as I tried to make new friends. Even so, I’d refused to take him along. Of course, he’d shown up thirty minutes later, making the “girls’ night” the girls plus Joel. His spin, of course, had been he’d missed me. One of the girls had thought it was sweet; the other had given me a look like, “what the fuck?” The next day she’d asked me if everything was okay.

I wished I could somehow thank her now. It had been an epiphany to see the situation through her eyes. I’d finally realized I wasn’t crazy for questioning his controlling nature. Of course, Joel and I had fought that night about me being “oversensitive.” He went from the man who was doting in front of my coworkers to cruel once we were home. He told me “you have no friends for a reason,” and “no wonder you have to be medicated” and “of course your father doesn’t want to spend time with you.” For many years I’d believed every word of it.

Leaving Dominic’s house tonight had been completely different from my history. He’d told me to have a good time. There’d been no guilt trip, no passive-aggressive comments. Nor did I feel pressured to cut my evening short.

I ordered a martini from the bar and waited only a few minutes before a beautiful woman came in and approached me. She was dressed to the nines in a silver mini dress and four-inch stilettos. “Hi, are you Kelsey?”

“Yes.” Wow. In comparison to what she was wearing, I was underdressed in a black wrap dress and sensible pumps.

“Great. I’m Brooke. Great to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Brooke was Caleb’s sister, and Caleb was the man my friend Daisy was dating. “I hear you’re in town for a conference?”

“Yes. A medical conference, which is as boring as it sounds. I get tired of hanging out with doctors and their overinflated male egos, so I was relieved Daisy suggested we all get together tonight.”

“Me too.” The woman was the epitome of put together. Beautiful, and smart. I found myself intimidated. A woman like her never would’ve found herself in a toxic relationship.

When the waiter approached, I admired the way she turned on the charm. Something Dominic could do too. “Hello, how are you?” she cooed.

The cute guy grinned widely. “I’m great. My name is Scott, and I’ll be taking care of you.”

Brooke’s lips curved up in a seductive smile. “Hello, Scott. I’m Brooke.” She glanced at the drink card. “What are you drinking, Kels?”

“It’s a raspberry martini. It’s really good.”

She smiled at our waiter. “I’ll have one of those too.”

As soon as the waiter left, she turned to me, her big blue eyes accentuated by sparkly eyeshadow and killer lashes. “I realize we’ve only just met, so I’m going to apologize up front and say I’m not normally like this. See, I’m coming off a breakup, so my plans for this evening are to drink like a fish and then probably take Scott back to my hotel room for the beginning of the revenge sex period of my life.”

Wow. I was unclear how to respond. “I’m sorry to hear about your breakup.”

Her eyes threatened tears. “I’m sure at some point I’ll tell people it was the best thing to ever happened to me and sound convincing. For now, my fiancé cheating on me sucks. But it sucks even worse to discover it was with my younger sister.”

Holy shit. “Your fiancé cheated on you with your sister?”

“Yep, caught them together three days ago. And evidently it’s a full-on relationship. Like somehow I was the bad guy for keeping them apart?” She shook her head as if still trying to come to terms with it. “Do me a favor and don’t tell Daisy. I’m not ready for my brother to find out yet.”

I reached for my martini, definitely needing it now.

She chuckled and turned toward our waiter, who’d returned with hers. “Why don’t you bring us two more of these? Oh and the appetizer platter. The fried one.”

“My pleasure,” he responded, off to put in the order.

“Sorry to dump on you,” she apologized. “Guess I’m reeling and telling someone I just met is easier than telling people I know.”

“I would be reeling too.”