Page 182 of Hale Damage
“Sure,” I say tentatively.
“I found them in your bed.”
I’m not sure why that’s a big deal. More than once, one of us had been unable to find our underwear after our nocturnal activities because they got lost in the tangled sheets.
But what Mindy says next stops my heart. She rises onto her tiptoes until she’s almost eye-level with me and whispers right in my face, “And. They’re. Not. My. Panties.”
“Whoa,” I practically shout, dropping the bag and holding my hands up like someone is holding me at gunpoint. Panic assails me, pulsing in every cell of my body. “No, no, no. Mindy, you have to know I would never cheat on you.” My head is shaking back and forth so rapidly her image is blurred.
My brain scrambles for something—anything—I can say to convince her. “I didn’t even sleep here last night. I swear to god, I spent the night at Helix and Nicolette’s.” My words are practically falling all over one another in their rush to exit my mouth. “Nicholas hasn’t been sleeping well this week, and they were both exhausted, so I went over to give them some relief.”
“I know,” Mindy says, her voice quiet and her expression unreadable. “Nicolette sent me a picture of you sleeping in the rocking recliner in the nursery because she thought it was cute.”
I’m slightly relieved to hear her say that. “I spent the entire night there. I have no idea whose panties those are,” I say, glancing down but only for a second because I have no desire to see any woman’s undergarments other than Mindy’s.
“You have no idea?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest. “You can’t think of a single panty-wearing person who’s been living in this apartment?”
It hits me. “Serena?” I ask incredulously.
“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner,” Mindy calls out with false cheeriness.
“We never… Serena and I… it’s not like that with us,” I stammer because this looks bad. Really bad. My brain scrambles to process how this could have happened. “They must have gotten mixed up with the sheets in the wash or something.”
Mindy’s look could crush glass. “They were not clean,” she says, enunciating every syllable, and I almost puke. “Also, there was a damp stain on the sheets, and the pillow smelled like her perfume.”
My nose wrinkles in disgust. “You think she fucked someone in my bed?”
Her head tilts side to side. “It’s possible, but I think it’s more likely she set this up to make me think you and her had something going on. Otherwise, if she had male company, she would have slept with them in her guest room.” Mindy presses her palm against her forehead like she’s trying to keep her brain from exploding out of her skull. I know how she feels. “I’ve been going over and over it in my head. Serena knew I’d come over since we’ve been apart all weekend. And you always play golf on Sundays, so it was likely I would be the one to find that whole little scene.”
I lift my hands and then let them fall to my sides. “But why in the hell would she do that?”
Mindy gives me a flat stare. “Use your brain, Remington. Why would a woman want another woman to think her boyfriend is cheating on her?” Then she crosses her arms and looks away from me for the first time. “I’ve been apprehensive about Serena since she did a complete one-eighty that day in your office. One second she hates me, and the next, she wants to be my best friend? That screamed fake to me.”
“Because I told her to cut the shit if she wants to stay in my life. I thought you two could be friends.”
Her gaze returns to mine. “And I appreciate you doing that. But when someone has to be forced to act decently, they’re not actually a friend.”
“That’s just how Serena is. She gets all dramatic about stuff but?—”
Mindy holds up a hand. “Please don’t.‘That’s just how she is’is not valid. That’s something people say to excuse bad behavior because they don’t want to deal with it.”
I rub a hand over the top of my head because she’s right. I’ve said that to Phoenix and Helix numerous times when they would ask why I hang out with Serena. It’s not an explanation; it’s an excuse.
“You’re right, and I’m sorry. It’s a bad habit I’ve gotten into without realizing it.”
She nods with her lips pressed hard together before bending to pick up the plastic bag. “You need to deal with this or I will,” she says, shoving the bagged panties into my hands. I readjust so I’m only pinching the corner of the bag with one finger and thumb.Holding another woman’s panties isn’t something I ever want to do again.
“I’ll fix it,” I say, though I have no idea how.
Mindy nods and turns away. “Thank you. I’m going upstairs to fumigate your bed.”
I reach out and snag her wrist before she can get away. “Don’t.” The fire is still in her eyes when she swings around, but it’s duller, like she’s weary of talking about this. “Don’t bother with the bed. We can stay at your place tonight, and I’ll have a new one delivered here tomorrow, along with all new bedding. If that’s not good enough, I’ll sell this place and find somewhere else to live.”
Mindy’s gorgeous face registers her surprise, and she searches my eyes before nodding. “Just the bed stuff is fine. And for the record, I didn’t think for a second you were cheating on me. Maybe that makes me an idiot, but I don’t believe you’re that kind of man.”
“I’m not. And I love you too, too much to even think about another woman.”
“I love you too. I think it’s healthy that we both have friends, and I don’t even care that Serena is a woman. Where I draw the line is when a friend affects our relationship as a couple.” Her eyes grow suspiciously wet but she doesn’t allow any tears to fall. “It hurt my feelings to know it didn’t bother you at all to have someone move into your place for an entire month. Someone who had almost every meal with us and was with us constantly unless we were in the bedroom.”
