Were's the Love?

Chapter 51: Book Analogies and The Ritual Pissing Match

Author's Note: I'm sorry this took longer than I predicted to post. The characters decided to go off script and it took me longer than it should have to get them to behave again.  Stubborn characters...
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There comes a time in everyone's life when we are forced to face our pasts. Sometimes, we seek them out, hoping that in facing them, we might be able to move beyond some tragedy that has held us back. Other times, they show up, unannounced, and ruin a perfect day with their ugly, stupid face.

This is one of those times.

I would have been perfectly content never setting eyes on Matt again. In fact, I was hoping he would never show back up and ruin yet another day. He ruined enough of them after he broke my heart. It wasn't just the days after our break-up that he ruined. It was every memory I had with him, both before and while we were dating. Every single memory we shared... Every day we spent together... They were all tainted by his cruel comments and inability to keep it in his pants.

However, looking at him standing here now with his date still latched onto his arm, one thing is perfectly clear to me. I am so over him.

I honestly have no idea how I was even attracted to him in the first place. I know they say love makes people blind, but, in my case, I think it made me lose all my senses.

Now, I understand that people change over time. I get that. But as my eyes scan the man in front of me, I can't help but wonder how I was ever attracted to him. It's not that he's necessarily bad looking. Tall, fit but not built, brown eyes, sandy blond hair, and dressed in somewhat expensive clothing. In fact, most normal humans would probably think he was a solid 7 or 8 out of 10. If you count in the fact that he's most likely a lawyer now, that rating might even go up.

The problem with any quick rating system like that is that it's based on first impressions.

You are essentially judging a book by its cover. The glossy picture, the blurb on the back, even that little biography of the author... They all look great at first glance. It's once you start reading the pages between that glossy cover that things start to go downhill. It's when you're reading those pages that you realize how big of a dick the main character really is.

I probably should have realized it sooner than I did. I knew Matt for years before we dated. I knew his habits and personality. I definitely should have noticed the moment he started cheating on me. I'm a shifter, for gods' sake. My acute sense of smell should have told me he'd been with someone else. But, unfortunately, that's one of the problems with being a side character in someone else's story. You never know what's going on until the author wants you to know. That's just the way the pages fall, if you let someone convince you that you are nothing more than a side character.

The thing is, I'm not a side character.

Not anymore.

I'm the fucking female lead and, judging by the look on Matt's face, he finally realized that. Too bad for him, he realized that too late. I have a new male lead in my life and I'm not interested in rehashing the past.

"You look good," Matt says as he looks down at me with a smile, his eyes traveling over my body. "Then again, you were always beautiful."

"Thanks," I say as Jason growls beside me. I'm not sure if he's growling at the fact that another man complimented me or because the other man happens to obviously be on a date.

If I've noticed one thing about Jason, he really does not like when people ignore their dates. I think it has something to do with respect, but, with Jason, who knows. I'm sure whatever the reason, it has something to do with whatever is written in that book on dating his sister gave him. I really need to find out where he hid that thing so I can read it. I imagine it will help stop future arguments and unnecessary worrying if I know what crazy ideas Tammy filled his head with before they become an issue.