The Gloves That Ended Us

Alex's hand shook slightly with the highball glass. "You're married and still doing that stuff? Does your husband know?"

I said nothing.

His furrowed brow relaxed a bit. Then he scoffed, "Ha, I get it. You're bluffing to rile me up and make me come back. I didn't know you were this scheming. But we're over. Even if you claimed you had kids, I wouldn't care."

He didn't have to tell me that. I knew he only cared for Betty.

But back then, he pursued me, swearing he'd gotten over Betty long ago to ease my worries.

His resolve touched me, and I agreed to be with him.

Now, in his mouth, I was desperately clinging to him.

Betty snatched my bag and dumped the trash all over the ground. "With your broke-ass vibe, you think you can snag rich folks' trash? You aren't taking even one bottle today."

My hard work on my son's project was ruined, making me furious.

I reached to grab the bag back, but before I could touch her, she flung herself backward and fell onto the sand.

"Ah, you bitch! How dare you push me?" she cursed.

I rolled my eyes, unimpressed by her crappy acting. Only a blind fool like Alex would fall for that.

She sat on the ground, sobbing dramatically. "Look what you did to my dress. You need to pay me!"

Alex glanced at her, then locked eyes with me. "Picking trash on a private beach is wrong to start. Betty was just kindly reminding you, and you shoved her? How can you be so vicious?"

I sneered while Betty kept demanding compensation.

Alex sighed, "Betty, get up. Look at her. Does she look like someone who can afford to replace your dress?"

Betty smirked, "That's true. An apology will be good."

I laughed, tired of their drama, and pulled out my phone. "It's just a dress, right? I'll pay you."

Betty frowned. "Do you even know how much this costs? You think a hundred or two covers it?"

I ignored her and was about to unlock my phone when a hand gripped my wrist.

Alex stared at the wallpaper. His nostrils flared, and his breath came in short, sharp pants, like a dog on the edge.

Finally steadying his breath, he croaked, "Don't you get it? I don't need those roses anymore."