Beachwood Bay 04 - Untamed Hearts

straight over to the far table, and the family who just walked in. He slides in next to the blonde girl and drapes an arm around her shoulder.
    I freeze.
    The girl smiles up at Trey, and he leans to drop a kiss on her lips. She reaches up to touch his cheek, and that’s when I see it: the ring on her engagement finger, bright and sparkling, and full of betrayal.
    My blood runs cold.
    Trey still hasn’t seen me. He’s smiling, easy, joking with the girl’s parents. They’re all having a ball of a time, as if ten hours ago he wasn’t grunting in my ear, cursing under his breath as he groped at every inch of flesh on my body.
    Funny, he forgot to mention his fiancée.
    Rage comes, hot in my veins. I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, how this goes. How it always goes. But after that letter from the design company, this is like a ton of salt dumped on the wound. All my rejection comes boiling up again, sharp and bitter with regret.
    I guess I’m only good enough to fuck.
    I stalk over there before I have a chance to reconsider. “Hi y’all, welcome to Jimmy’s.” I say flatly. I look to Trey for some kind of reaction: shock maybe, or fear. But instead, he has the nerve to smile at me and wink, like we’re in this together.
    “We’ve got some specials here tonight,” I continue, my voice sharp and metallic.
    “Sure,” Trey grins, lounging back in the booth. “Let’s hear ‘em.”
    I narrow my eyes. Without the tequila blurring my vision – and good judgment – I can see he’s just a beefed up jock with a bad goatee. Jesus, why did I even waste my time on him?
    Because there was nothing better to do. The voice in my head answers for me. Because he helped you forget, just for a little while, what a dead-end your life has become.
    I push the voice back, and glare at Trey, like I could strip the skin off his bones with just one look.
    “Well, first up we’ve got the cheating asshole,” I announce. “It comes with a side of whiskey dick.”
    That wipes the smile off his face. Trey scowls at me while the rest of the table blinks in confusion. “Brit—” he warns in a menacing voice, but I’m not done yet.
    “Or how about some lying piece of scum?” I continue, “You won’t have to wait long for that. Trust me, it comes real quick.”
    “That’s enough!” Trey leaps to his feet, but I step back, quicker.
    “Damn right it is.” I spit. “Already hard for you?” I quote his text, fury pumping in my bloodstream. “Funny how you didn’t mention your fiancée.”
    I grab a plate of nachos from the next table and upend it all over his head. The mess of cheese and guacamole and beans smears down his face and drips, slowly to the floor.
    There’s silence. The rest of the table gasps at me in shock.
    “What the fuck?!” Trey finally finds his voice, wiping at the mess on his shirt. “You crazy bitch!”
    “What’s she talking about?” The blonde blinks, all innocent confusion.
    “It’s nothing, babe,” Trey says quickly. I snort.
    “He’s been fucking me for weeks.” I tell her harshly. “And god knows who else. Better get tested, sweetheart. I sure as hell will. Y’all have a nice night.” I add to the girl’s parents, sitting there, shell-shocked.
    I stride away, victory surging in my veins. That’ll teach him not to use me like some piece of ass, then go running back to Little Miss Perfect the minute daylight comes. I can hear him now behind me, begging and groveling to them all. “Don’t listen to her, baby,” I hear him plead. “You know what everyone says about her. She’s just a crazy slut. She’s nothing.”
    My steps falter. Now that my rage is fading, I realize the whole bar is staring at me. I can see their faces, wide-eyed and scandalized. Then the whispers start, gossiping tones drifting out to me as I hurry across the bar.
    “You know those Ray kids… She gets around, for sure… Just like their mama…”
    I keep walking, my anger fading to humiliation as reality sinks in. As far as everyone here is concerned, Trey isn’t the one who made a fool of himself just now. No, that was me, lashing out, flying off the handle, causing some huge scene. And for what?
    “What the hell, Brit?” Garrett steps out of the back room in time to catch the carnage behind me.
    “I’m on my break,” I snap, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the bar as I steam down the back hall.
    “Brit, wait a second!”
    Garrett’s voice and the noise of the bar recede behind me as I