Better Than My Ex novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Take It Off

Bryson stepped into my flat with his overnight bag still on his shoulder.

He was in yesterday's shirt, and his hair was flat on one side from a plane seat. He looked tired and wronged.

"Mara, we need to talk about last night," he started. Then he saw the kitchen.

Levi stood at my stove in his shirtsleeves with a spatula in his hand.

"What is he doing here?"

"Making eggs," Levi said.

Bryson looked at him, then at me, then at my left hand.

I hadn't put it behind my back, and I didn't now.

The sapphire caught the morning light from the window.

Bryson's jaw worked.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Good morning, Bryson."

He laughed once, without any humor in it.

"It's been one day, and you're engaged to your college study buddy?"

"Yes."

"Take it off."

"No."

"Mara. This is what people do when they're hurt. They grab the first thing that's kind to them."

He lowered his voice.

"Everyone does it. It's a rebound, and I'm not going to hold it against you."

"You're not going to hold it against me."

"Take it off, and we'll forget the beach. I'll talk to Lydia. I'll fix it."

Behind him, Levi turned the burner down and said nothing at all.

I had asked him last night, half asleep, to let me do the talking, and he had said all right.

Bryson didn't know yet that this was the hardest thing Levi would do all weekend.

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