“Are you going to?” I quirk a brow.
“No.”
I blink, stunned. “Um,why not?”
He’s refusing to block Slutterfly? Why?
“She’s insane,” he says, as if this explains everything. “If I block her, she’ll just start calling me from weird numbers. She’ll know she’s been blocked.”
“You can’t tell when you’re blocked.” His response makes no sense whatsoever.
“Yeah, you can,” he insists. “The messages turn green instead of blue.”
“Why do you care what she thinks?”
“I don’t,” he snaps. “I just don’t want to deal with it. I knew you’d act like this when I told you she reached out.”
“How did youexpectme to react, Timmy?”
He smirks, leaning back in his chair. “Yourex reached out toyou.”
I roll my eyes so hard I can almost see the back of my skull. “Someone I haven’t spoken to innine years, who lives on theother side of the country, and whom I promptly told tofuck off.”
He’d reached out to tell me he found an item of my clothing at his place. To which I’d wanted to reply that maybe he should clean his house more often. Instead, I’d dismissed him completely and blocked him.
“That’s alittledifferent from some… person you hooked up withlast yearwho’s now conveniently stayingless than an hour away and wants to hang out.”
“It’s pretty similar,” he says, shrugging.
“It’s…not at all similar!” I snap, feeling my blood pressure spike. “The two things don’t compare at all!”
“And you don’t have to worry about her,” he says smugly. “She’s annoying as fuck. She’s basically banned from every bar and restaurant in town. She’s a mess, and I want nothing to do with her. Still, you need to stop being such a hypocrite with your ex texting you.”
I feel like I’m losing my mind. “If you told me straight away that she had messaged you and left a voicemail, I wouldn’t have been upset, because that’s out of your control. What Iamupset about is that you deleted the voicemail, kept it from me for two weeks, and let her cross this line and now you’re not blocking her.”
“Well, I knew you’d be upset.”
“No,” I counter. “I’m upset withMattyfor supposedly giving her your number after you changed it to block her. But honestly?I don’t know what to believe anymore. For all I know, you gave her your number yourself.”
His face flickers for a moment, a shadow of guilt. Or maybe that’s just my imagination. He’s mastered the art of keeping just enough plausible deniability. He’s blaming Matty, but I don’t know what to believe anymore. For all I know, he didn’t block her on all social media—maybe heisthe one who gave her his number.
Either way, the damage is done. I feel sick to my stomach. All the time, love, and financial resources I’ve poured into him, andthisis the thanks I get? He wants to keep talking to someone who doesn’t respect his boundaries, who clearly has no respect forme?
I’m so disgusted, I may never eat again.
I glance at his face and catch something that chills me to my core. It’s not a full smirk, but it’s close.
Is he enjoying this? Does he like seeing me upset, thinking I’m jealous?
The truth is, I’m not jealous about Leftover Lucy. I’mpissed.I’m angry that someone who actively disrespects him—and by extension our relationship—is allowed any access to him.
I told Timmy immediately when my ex contacted me. I even showed him the message I sent back telling the guy to get lost.
But Timmy? He’s all about creating false equivalencies. He acts like my ex—someone I haven’t spoken to in adecade—is somehow the same as his recent hookup sending him selfies and texts saying she’s nearby.
The constant double standard of expectations for my and his behavior drives me nuts.
I feel the resentment clawing its way up my throat. He told me he didn’t want to drag me down. But I’ve introduced him to successful, kind people. He’s introduced me to an abusive drug dealer, a jobless mooch, and the meth addicts on the beach. I’vetaken him to nice restaurants, and he’s thrown food I’ve bought for us in the trash.