The Way Love Goes (Serendipitous Love Book 4)

by Christina C Jones

  Ayden shook her head. “Don’t beat yourself up too much. Remember, you were busy as hell. I know, because I was with you the whole time, and I know how much we were working. I think he would have had to be a lot more obvious with it for you to see it. Not that it makes him any less slime, but at least he had enough respect for you to hide the shit.”

  I sucked my teeth. “Uh, no. That was self-preservation because he knows I would have kicked both of their asses if I found out.”

  Ayden tipped her head to the side. “You know… you’re probably right,” she laughed. “Or maybe a little of both. Whatever it was, like I said, I’m just glad to see you moving on, and happy, especially with a man like Sean. He brings out so much good in you.”

  “And Ray didn’t?” I teased.

  She scowled. “Ray… brought something. You never seemed as relaxed with him as you do with Sean. You’re so relaxed now that I can tell you I never told you he stopped by here because I didn’t want him messing your good mood up.”

  “He did what?! When?! And why are you just now telling me?!”

  Ayden squinted, and shook her head. “Uhhh, I just said, because I didn’t want him messing up your good mood. And remember – ex boyfriends are dead to us, right? Why would I tell you about a zombie coming to visit? It was while you were gone to Chicago.”

  “I’ve been to Chicago several times since Ray and I broke up!”

  “Okay, so, the first time. You went to stay with Sean at the lake right after, and Ray didn’t want shit anyway, so I didn’t see the point in bothering you with it. I sent him and his whore packing.”

  I crossed my arms. “He brought her here?!”

  “And this is why I didn’t tell you,” Ayden muttered under her breath as she stood. “I should have kept my mouth shut, and let him remain in his grave.”

  “Don’t be silly,” I told her, following her to the door of the office. “What did he want?”

  She shrugged. “To apologize, supposedly. But listen… it doesn’t matter. Screw him and her and his apology. You’ve got your prince charming, right?”

  I sighed. “Right.”

  And I wasn’t just agreeing to get her off my back – she was right.

  “Can you go see what the salesgirls want for lunch?” I asked. “We’ve been crazy busy today, so I want to order in, and everybody can just have lunch on me.”

  Ayden grinned. “Dick got you in a great mood, huh?”

  “Sure does,” I giggled as she pulled open the door to my office. “I’m meeting Sean – and I’m actually already late as hell, fooling with you – but you guys can have a good meal.” She nodded, then turned to the door, and a second later, she screamed. My head shot up to see a confused looking Ray standing in the open door frame.

  “Speak of the damned devil,” Ayden said, pointing at Ray as she looked him up and down in disgust. “I should have known I was invoking your dirty ass when I said your name.”

  “Good to see you too,” Ray said, smirking at Ayden. He looked at me. “Fal… can I talk to you?”

  Ayden shook her head. “Uh uh. No. Hell no. There’s nothing you can say, because she doesn’t give a damn.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, and started to give him a resounding hell no, to echo Ayden. But… something stilled my tongue, and instead, I nodded. Somewhere, deep down, even though I had Sean, even though I didn’t miss Ray, even though I damn sure with want Ray… I wanted to know what he had to say.

  “Give us a second, Ayden.” I said, suppressing a smirk as Ray and Ayden glared at each other.

  She made a jumping motion at him, and he flinched, which Ayden sucked her teeth about. “Punk ass motherfucker.”

  Reluctantly, she stepped out of the office and closed the door behind her, but I would have bet money that she was listening at the door.

  “So what do you want?” I asked, once I’d sat down, offering Ray nothing that even approached a smile.

  “To see you in person again. You… you look good,” he said, running his tongue over his lips as his eyes landed on the bit of cleavage peeking out of my blouse. A year ago, a look like that would have had me hot and bothered. Ray was an incredibly handsome, deep chocolate man, but knowing him as I did now, he didn’t elicit even the tiniest twinge of emotion or arousal from me. More like… disgust.

  “Well, here I am.” I lifted my hands. “Is that all? Cause if so, you can go.”

  “Damn, it’s like that?”

  I frowned. “Um, yeah, Ray. It is. Did you expect me to welcome you with open arms?”

  He scoffed, then shook his head. “I guess not. Especially not after I saw you hugged up with ole boy on Instagram.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What? What are you talking about?”

  “That guy in the picture with your brother and the little singing chick. The big dude, the black version of that wrestler, The Rock.”

  “The Rock is black though, and he’s an actor now… and Sean looks nothing like him.”

  “Big as hell, looks mixed with Hawaiian, looks like he needs assistance turning his neck… they look alike.”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s not Hawaiian, for either of them, it’s Samoan. And Sean is only like, a quarter—why am I explaining this to you? Ray, make your damn point.”

  “My point is that you had me thinking you were up here heartbroken and struggling, and then I see you hugged up on old boy. What, is that your new man or something?”

  I propped my elbows on my desk, using them for support as I rested my chin. “Um… I haven’t made you think any such thing, because I haven’t spoken to you. You thought I’d be here heartbroken and struggling without you – and you thought wrong. You want to know the first thing I do when I get up in the morning to have my tea? I thank God you showed your ass before I invested any more of my energy into you. And as pissed as I was that I uprooted my whole life for you, I’m glad. Because I’m exactly where I need to be now, with exactly who I need to be here with. So thank you, for being trifling.”

  Ray recoiled as if I’d hit him. “Fallon I came here to apologize to you, and make things right between us. I ended up accepting the position here at the new firm. If we’re going to be running into each other in the neighborhood, we need to be able to be civil.”

  “Oh, I can be civil,” I said, laughing. “But I won’t. I prefer to pretend your ass doesn’t exist. And for the record, I don’t need your apology for either option. I thought I needed some closure here, but I just realized your selfish ass can’t even offer me that. If you wanted to apologize, you would have done that – not questioned me about Sean. You came here because you couldn’t help it. You saw me happy, next to a gorgeous man in that picture, and you just had to come and see what was going on. What… you can’t believe that I got over you so quickly? Let me let you in on a little secret… Sean made it very, very easy.”

  Ray’s face pulled into a scowl. “I bet he did. How long have you been fucking him, huh? Probably the whole time, while you want to act like I did you so wrong.”

  I let out a peal of laughter as I stood, putting an extra swing in my step since I knew Ray was watching my ass in the fitted pencil skirt I’d worn to work that day. “And now, our conversation is over,” I said, pulling open the door. “Tell yourself whatever you need to in order to justify the fact that you cheated. I hope you and Olivia have a nice life. And please, feel free to leave me the hell alone if you see me on the street, and tell that whore of yours to do the same, if she’s around that long before you replace her too. Does she know why you’re here?”

  “Oh, she’ll be around,” Ray said, smirking as he stood. “And she knows I’m here to talk to you, she’s waiting outside. She’s going to look great on my arm when I move into politics. We have a beautiful story. High school sweethearts, you know?”

  I rolled my eyes. Of course they were. “Good for you. Bye.”

  Ray paused just outside the door. “I hope you know your precious Sean isn’t a prize. You know his ex-wife g
ot taken from him by a real man, right?”

  My lip curled. “And who are you, Ray? His spokesperson? Did you have him investigated or something? I already know about Sean’s past, dummy. And there isn’t shit you can say to me that will make me rethink the great man I know he is.”

  Ray opened his mouth to say something else, but I shook my head, and swung the door shut in his face. What would I look like letting him, of all people, tell me anything about my man? Screw him. I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction.

  I sat back down at my desk, and dropped my head into my hands, pissed at myself for even entertaining him that long. He’d done nothing but aggravate me, in the pursuit of closure that I didn’t need. Raising my head, I glanced at the time, and my eyes went wide when I realized I was almost twenty minutes late for meeting Sean.

  Shit!

  I shot up from my desk and grabbed my purse, hurrying out of my office. Up at the counter, I was shocked to see two lines of customers waiting to check out, and they didn’t look happy at all.

  “What the heck is going on?” I whispered to Ayden, who was working one of the registers. “Why are you up here ringing people up?”

  “Brittany is in the back puking,” she whispered back, turning to me with a hand on her hip. “So I had to take over her register, and Yves is over there trying to deal with a return, but something is up with the system, and can you help?”

  Crap.

  I rushed over to Yves to help, glancing at the time with a sigh. All I could do was hope Sean wasn’t going to be pissed.

  I was a little bit pissed.

  Just a little bit though, because the other few times Fallon had forgotten about lunch, she’d just gotten wrapped up in work and lost track of time, which I’d done a few times myself. And maybe I was just anxious to see her, after yesterday. I wasn’t ashamed to admit Fallon may have had me a little bit sprung.

  She was supposed to have met me here at the Pot Liquor site so we could walk to grab something to eat. Since she wasn’t here yet, I tossed down my inventory clipboard, and left my hardhat with it. I’d just go down to Scantilily and meet her.

  It was a short walk, so it only took me a few minutes, but as I approached the front of her store, a familiar woman, in conversation with some dude made me slow down. What the fuck was Olivia doing here?

  Just like when I saw her unexpectedly at the grocery store, Olivia’s presence made my chest tighten. This time, though, it wasn’t with feelings of anger and bitterness over what she’d done to me. This time, a surge of protective energy surged through me, and all I cared about was what the hell her manipulative ass was doing in front of Fallon’s store?

  With my face pulled into a scowl, I closed the distance between us. “What are you doing here?” I asked, walking right up to the pair. “I know you’re not here bothering my new girl, right? Cause this shit isn’t cool.”

  Olivia wrinkled her forehead in confusion. “What are you talking about? I’m not stalking anybody, I was waiting for Ray to finish talking to his ex.”

  My scowl deepened. Ray?

  The guy she’d been talking to chuckled, and I turned to him as he looked me up and down. “That’s right. This is your ex-husband, isn’t it baby? Small world after all.”

  Olivia tipped her head to the side, sending her hair swinging. “Small world… what?” She looked at me, confused, but then her eyes lit up. “Wait a minute your girl is Fallon? Oh my goodness, that’s so wonderful! See, Ray? I was feeling all bad and look what happened! She moved up here and found Sean!”

  I narrowed my eyes, glaring at both of them as I put the pieces together in my head. There wasn’t a coincidence in the world strong enough for this punk not to be the common denominator.

  Ray shook his head. “Well, well, Sean,” he said, with a smirk that it would have thrilled me to punch off his fucking face. “Looks like I did your ass a favor by dropping Fallon, and taking your wife.”

  I let out a little huff of laughter, and forced myself to shove my hands in my pockets and keep them there as I stepped into Ray’s face. The smirk slid away when we were almost chest-to-chest, and I looked him right in the eyes. It flashed in my mind to just knock his head in, get some absolution on Fallon’s behalf. And honestly, my own, since he’d been party to the demise of my marriage. But I shook my head. “One dummy’s trash can be a real man’s treasure, bruh.” I glanced over at Olivia, then back at him. “And you two trash motherfuckas deserve each other.”

  I could have stuck around, said more, and left them both feeling worse than the shitty people they were, but it really didn’t even feel worth it. After everything… I was just more interested in getting my girl and having lunch. Ray was just as an asshole, and Olivia… did she really think they’d done Fallon and me a favor?

  Wait…

  Maybe they did.

  But I sure wasn’t about to thank their asses for it.

  “Wait a minute… Ray, did you… did you know about Fallon and Sean? Is that why you wanted to come and talk to her? Your ass said that you—”

  Whatever.

  I tuned their bullshit out, but a tiny little sliver of hope that they might both fall off the curb and break their ankles rested at the back of my mind. Petty? Sure. But fuck them.

  Without giving either of them another look, I turned to walk to the door of Scantilily to get my girl. Again, fuck them. My concern was making sure Fallon was good.

  I had my hand on the door when I realized I’d forgotten my wallet in my truck, back at the Pot Liquor site. Through the glass, I could see that Fallon was busy helping one of her cashiers, and she’d mentioned wanting to eat Greek, which was the opposite way… I debated for a second about what I wanted to do, then shook my head. I could go back, grab my wallet, and maybe by the time I made it back she’d be free to talk about whatever the hell was going on.

  I was halfway into my truck, reaching into the glove compartment for my wallet when someone shouted my name. I looked, too quickly, and knocked my head on the roof of the truck.

  “Shit,” I mumbled under my breath, then grabbed my wallet and slapped the glove compartment closed. I climbed back out of my truck and turned around to see who was trying to get my attention.

  I was already scowling because my damned head hurt, and it deepened when I saw Fallon. Or rather, who was standing next to Fallon. Fucking Scott. That whole “Chocolate Goddess of the Universe” comment played in my head, and I stared at him, pointedly, until he blanched.

  “I-I um… boss, your lady was looking for you, so I thought I’d um… I was trying to help her out, you know,” he stammered, scratching the back of his head like he was nervous.

  “I bet you were, Scott. Thank you.”

  He scrambled off, and I turned to Fallon. “Hey, Fal.” I rubbed my head again, waiting for the pain to subside.

  “I’m sorry I’m so late,” she said, stepping close to me, with glossy eyes. “I should have called to say I was running behind, but then Ray showed up, and for some stupid reason, I stayed to talk to him, even though I was already late, and I saw you talking to him through the window, and I don’t know what he said to you, but if it was anything stupid, I’m sorry. And I hope you’re not mad at me.”

  I shook my head, and grabbed her hand, pulling her close to me. “What are you talking about, babe? Why would I be mad at you?”

  “Well, you were scowling at me just now. And when you started to come into the store, you had this disgusted look on your face, and you just shook your head and turned and walked away like you were pissed.”

  “Fal, no.” I chuckled, then cupped her chin, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. “I forgot my wallet,” I said, holding it up. “That’s why I turned around. And I was looking disgusted because of my interaction with your punk ass ex. I would have just come in the store, because I know what you’ve told me about him, and I wanted to be sure you were good, but you looked busy, and I’d forgotten the wallet anyway… I called myself being efficient,” I laughed.
“But it looks like I should have just stayed where I was. Did you know about Ray and Olivia?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I knew about Ray and Olivia. She’s the coworker I told you he was screwing.”

  “And… my ex-wife.”

  Fallon’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes went wide. “Wait a minute… what?! You’ve got to be kidding?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  Fallon shook her head. “You know what… I bet that’s what his punk ass was hinting at. How does that even work though? Like… I guess right after your divorce, she moved back to Chicago, because she started working with Ray just under two years ago. So, what, they reconnected, and—”

  I chuckled, then grabbed her hands, bringing them up to press a kiss against her fingers. “Baby, don’t even waste your energy trying to make sense of that right now. That whole thing is just… a goddamned mess.”

  “Right? Think about it. What are the chances of us getting our hearts broken by two – trash ass – people, who ended up with each other? And now… here we are, together. So… maybe we shouldn’t think of it as a mess, or a freak of nature at all, you know? Maybe… serendipity.”

  I grinned, then kissed her hand again. “Let’s go with that.”

  Fallon smiled. “And those two deserve each other.”

  “Right,” I nodded. “Same damned thing I said. But, back to us, my scowling had nothing to do with you. I’d just hit my head on the roof of the truck, and then I looked up to see you standing here with Scott. But I’m not mad at you. Now what the hell did dude say? I spared him for the little slick shit he tried with me, but…”

  She shook her head. “You know what… nothing worth repeating. I let him get into my head because I thought I needed closure, and I don’t. I had in my head that if I ran into him, I would need to curse him out, and get angry, and slap him or something. I thought I needed to blow up, you know? And then… once he was right there, in my face, talking nonsense…. I just realized how unnecessary it was. I just… needed you.”

  I smiled, then lowered my head to kiss her. “Okay. And… I love you, Fallon. That’s all you need to worry about. He’s moving here, so what? I was easy on him today, but if he crosses you, I’ll put his ass through a wall. Does that make you feel better?”