It was a nice break from the tension-inducing conversation about her past relationships; then just like that the plug on that break was pulled ruthlessly.

“So when Grayson brought me this adorable little stray kitten he’d found while patrolling one night, it instantly reminded me of the stories Larry used to tell us about his cat. It was a no brainer. I named the kitten Larry.”

This was the last place he thought the story about Larry the cat would come back to. Felix lay back down on the bed, feeling a bit defeated. Somehow he was going to have to dig real deep for patience to deal with anything regarding Grayson. So far it sounded like her ex was a good guy—a hero and giver of adorable pets—a fucking blessing! Of course, all this only made Felix hate him more.

Felix hated to go back to Grayson, but now he had to know why they’d broken up. He could only pray it was bad—though the fact that she was still talking to the guy and trying to keep things amicable didn’t give him much hope.

“So why’d you break up with Grayson?”

He heard her take a deep breath. “He told me that he’d wanted to ask me out a lot sooner but didn’t think it appropriate with everything going on, and he also didn’t think it’d look very good if the cop who’d given key statements in my brother’s case was dating me. So that’s why it took almost a year after we’d met for us to start dating.” She sighed softly, and Felix hated hearing even that.

Was she still disappointed things hadn’t worked out? Was that a sentimental sigh reflecting on the memories of her time with Grayson? He squeezed the phone in his hand, remembering how this could get even worse. Before he had a chance to put too much thought into it, she went on.

“He was a sweetheart at first, really polite and respectful as you’d expect from a cop. Then he mentioned having to attend anger-management classes. At first, he said it was because of a minor incident at work between him and a co-worker. He said the department has real strict policies about that kind of stuff so the union advised him to just attend the classes to avoid being written up. I couldn’t even imagine him flying off the handle; he was so sweet.”

She chuckled while Felix felt his skin crawl from having to sit there and listen to her refer to Grayson as a sweetheart and then so sweet again all in the same breath.

“That should’ve been my first clue that he wasn’t as sweet as he was pretending to be.” This time her chuckle sounded more like a scoff, and Felix’s hope that maybe this had ended badly was back. He got back on his feet with his fingers crossed. Then she sighed again. “But I didn’t pick up on the clue, and he continued with the sweetheart act. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker and even began to really fall for him so much so I decided he’d be my first.”

Felix nearly let out a groan as he fell back on his bed, bringing the pillow over his face. God damn it! Grayson had been her first and this after he’d waited over a year to go out with her and probably longer until she decided to let him be her first. No wonder the idiot was so unwilling to just walk away. The guy’s feelings of entitlement were likely off the charts. “So what happened?” Felix asked, sitting up.

“That’s when he changed,” she said softly. “Once we took the relationship to that level, it was as if he became another person. He was suspicious of everything after that. Trust became a major issue even though his suspicions were completely unjustified. Before we started sleeping together, he knew I still kept in touch with Gabe.”

“You did?”

“I still do,” she said matter-of-factly. “After his brother went to jail, he did a complete about-face. He has two older brothers from his mom’s first marriage, and they stepped in and straightened him out. He made it a point to apologize to me, but we’re just friends now like we were when we were kids. Grayson was fine with it until we started sleeping together. All of a sudden he couldn’t stand it, and Gabe was the reason for his first outburst. Even though it was on the phone, I still wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t heard him with my own ears.”

“What did he say?” Felix asked curiously.

“I’d run into Gabe that day at the neighborhood market I often walk to, and we walked back together. When I mentioned this to Grayson, he went off on me. He accused me of still having feelings for Gabe and asked if I was planning on . . . sleeping with him too. Only he used a much more vulgar word for it. So I hung up on him. I was stunned.”

Felix made a mental note. As he suspected, Ella wasn’t going to put up with shit. She explained that days later when she finally answered Grayson’s call he claimed to have had a bad day the day he went off on her and that it wasn’t like him at all to act that way. But it was all B.S.

“He began questioning everything. I couldn’t even look at my phone without him questioning who I was texting or emailing. He monitored all my social media and asked about every single guy I interacted with. There was always something wrong with any photos I posted. My shorts were too short, I was showing too much cleavage, and any guy who liked or commented on my page was suspect. I broke up with him the first time after he showed up at the Starbucks where I work and was rude to one of my coworkers—a guy, of course. When Grayson had walked in, my coworker and I were laughing about something, and Grayson immediately acted like a complete jackass, asking me in front of the guy if that’s why I’d been working so much lately. Just like the day he showed up at the gym last week, I was mortified.”