Page 98 of Falling for the Grinchy Bad Boy

“You seemed pretty clear when you told me that loving you was suffocating you,” I said, the old wounds tearing open with surprising ease. “When you said that small-town life wasn’t enough for someone with your ambitions.”

Lynn’s expression shifted, adopting the contrite look she’d perfected during our relationship whenever she’d pushed too far. The same look that always made me feel like a jackass. The same look that always had me apologizing for something she had done.

“I was wrong,” she said. She was talking like she was placating a wounded animal or a child. “I’ve spent the last year in Salt Lake City realizing exactly how wrong I was.”

I tried to move away again, but she cornered me near the back wall of the equipment bay, effectively trapping me between a fire truck and her determined presence.

Again, tiger. Tigress? More like a hyena. She was coming at me like I was a raw, juicy steak she wanted to sink her teeth into.

“Cooper, I want you back,” she said, her voice dropping to that intimate tone that had once made me weak in the knees. “I want us back. I know I hurt you, but I can make it right.”

The audacity of her statement left me speechless for a moment. After everything she had done, everything she’d said about me and my life and my capacity for love, she thought she could just walk back in and pick up where we’d left off?

“No,” I said, the word coming out easily. I didn’t even have to think about it. “Absolutely not. Not now, not ever.”

“Cooper—”

“The mistake was mine,” I interrupted, finally finding my voice and the anger that came with it. “I used to think you were gorgeous, Lynn. I used to think you were everything I wanted. But you know what I see when I look at you now? Your ugly heart. The person who convinced me that everything I thought I knew about love was wrong. You did everything you could to make me feel like everything I felt was wrong. I wasn’t the perfect man for you, so I was just a piece of shit in your life. Someone you graced with your time. Like I was supposed to feel so lucky you deigned to give me your attention.”

Her perfect composure cracked slightly, revealing a flash of the entitled rage I learned to recognize during the worst parts of our relationship. “You’re angry, but you don’t mean that.”

“I absolutely mean it. I’m with Joy now, and she’s⁠—”

“Oh, Joy’s back in town?” Lynn’s smile turned sharp and predatory. “How convenient for you.”

The tone in her voice made my skin crawl. This was Lynn at her most dangerous, when she felt threatened and started looking for ways to tear down whatever was making her feel insecure.

“Joy is—” I started.

“A consolation prize,” Lynn interrupted with a laugh that held no warmth. “Come on, Cooper. We both know I’m the jackpot here. Joy Murphy was always the girl who couldn’t wait to get out of this nowhere town. You really think she’s going to settle down with you and be happy playing house in Calton Hill? You think you’re the guy she’s been waiting her whole life for? You’re delusional.”

“Get out,” I said, my voice low and dangerous. “Get out right now before I turn the hose on you.”

But Lynn wasn’t finished planting her poison seeds. “You know I’m right. Joy hated this place more than anyone. There’s no way she’ll stay here long term, not when she could have a real career in a real city. She’s just killing time until something better comes along.”

“Lynn, you’re pathetic.”

“I’m the one who’ll stay, Cooper. I’m the one who’s willing to build a life here with you. I made a mistake leaving, but I’m here now, ready to give you everything Joy never will.”

The manipulation was so blatant, so obviously calculated, that it would have been laughable if it wasn’t so vicious. This was exactly the kind of psychological warfare Lynn specialized in, finding your deepest fears and insecurities and weaponizing them against you.

The problem was that her words were hitting uncomfortably close to fears I’d been trying not to acknowledge.

“Either you leave right now, or I will,” I said through gritted teeth. “I won’t listen to another word of this. If Katrina shows up and sees you here, I cannot be responsible for her actions.”

Lynn rolled her eyes. “It’s a misunderstanding. She’ll understand.”

It was my turn to snort. “Yeah, try telling her that.”

“Fine,” she said, smoothing down her coat and preparing to make her exit. “I’ll go. But Cooper? Think about what I said. Really think about it. You know Joy better than anyone. Do you honestly believe she’s going to choose Calton Hill over whatever opportunities are waiting for her in the big city?”

She turned and walked toward the door. She paused and looked back.

“When she leaves—and we both know she will—I’ll be waiting,” she said. “I’ll be right here, ready to give you the life you actually deserve.”

Then she was gone, leaving me alone in the equipment bay with a head full of poisonous doubts. Not about Lynn. I’d jump off a cliff before I gave her a second chance. The worries were about the woman I actually cared for.

I tried to return to my inventory report, but Lynn’s words kept echoing in my mind.

Joy had hated this town when we were teenagers. She’d been counting down the days until she could escape to college and never look back. She’d built a successful career in New York, lived the kind of life that Calton Hill could never offer.

What if Lynn was right? What if Joy was just marking time here, waiting for the right opportunity to leave again? What if I was setting myself up for the same kind of heartbreak all over again?

Lynn was an untrustworthy snake who’d proven herself capable of breathtaking cruelty. But that didn’t necessarily mean she was wrong about Joy’s intentions. It just meant she was using the truth as a weapon.

Lynn had planted her seeds of doubt. I hated that they were taking root. But I couldn’t ignore them anymore.

It was a conversation Joy and I needed to have soon, before I let myself fall any deeper into something that might not be meant to last.

Was she too fancy and sophisticated to settle down with a guy like me?