Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Day three of our cold war, and I ordered Trojan ultra-thins online... accidentally shipped to my boyfriend's place. After getting dolled up, I knocked on his door. "Hey Dashiell, I think I have a package here-" A cold laugh cut me off from above. "Are you fucking kidding me right now? Weren't you the one who slapped me and told me to fuck off?" His arm blocked the doorway as he yelled toward the bedroom: "Babe! My crazy ex's here trying to hit on me. Come deal with this!" Wait. Ex? Babe? What the hell? I rolled my eyes, thinking Dashiell was totally bullshitting me. "Wait, what? You're telling me that on day THREE of our fight-you already got some chick in your bedroom?" "Yeah right. Sure you do." I ducked under his arm and walked right in, heading straight for the shoe cabinet. When I saw those cute pink bunny slippers, I couldn't help but laugh. "Aw, you actually got me these? You know I like green better, not-" "Babe." Dashiell's voice went all soft and honey-sweet, cutting me off. I was about to respond when I thought-wait, since when does he get all lovey-dovey after we fight? I looked up and- There was this girl in a barely there cami standing in the living room, giving me those innocent Bambi eyes. "Um... why are you wearing my slippers?" I just stood there looking stupid, brain completely lagging. I watched Dashiell-who's usually Mr. Whatever About Everything-just shrug like "my bad" and wrap his arms around Little Miss Perfect. "She literally just showed up unannounced." "If I knew my ex was gonna show up like this, I wouldn't have even answered." 16:22 Dear Hubby. Your Biggest Mistake? Thinking I'd Beg Instead of Burn 14.5 Chapter 1 Then he turned to me all self-righteous: "Well? You gonna explain why you're here, Aurelia?" Before I could even speak, he came over with this icy energy, side-eyeing the slipper I'd already slipped on. His tone was straight ice: "Could you maybe not? Like, boundaries exist for a reason. You can't just walk up in here touching people's stuff!" I was gripping the wall, one foot half out of the slipper, too mortified to even make eye contact. The embarrassment was hitting different, and I started tearing up before I could stop myself. After what felt like forever, Dashiell finally noticed I was crying. His voice got a little softer, like he was doing me some huge favor: 'Whatever. Thalia's a total germaphobe-she won't want anything you've touched. They're yours now." I tried to get it together and forced out a smile: "I forgot to change my address on the order..." Thalia seemed to snap back to reality, giggling as she face-palmed. "OMG, my bad! I didn't even check the label properly. I just assumed it was something Dashiell ordered." She beamed: "Let me go grab your package right now!" The second Thalia turned around, I quickly switched back to my sneakers, watching Dashiell stare after her like some total simp. That's when- I raised my hand and slapped the shit out of him. A red mark appeared across Dashiell's cheek. He ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek and let out a soft laugh. You blocked me, deleted me from everything... that's basically breaking up with me, right?" "You told me to get lost, so I did. So what?" Dashiell stepped closer, backing me into the corner. His eyes dropped to my chest rising and falling under my lace dress as he lowered his voice: "And now you show up here at night dressed like this-what? You here to beg me to take you back?" Before I could even respond, his expression went cold as he stepped back. "That slap makes us even for whatever shit I did before." He glanced toward Thalia with this casual shrug: "She gets kinda weird about my ex stuff." "So maybe just... don't come around anymore, okay?" Before I could say anything, Thalia came out carrying the package, looking all sorry. 16:22 Dear Hubby. Your Biggest Mistake? Thinking I'd Beg Instead of Burn 14.9 Chapter 1 Her voice was small and nervous: "I'm so sorry, I didn't know this was yours..." "I thought it was something Dashiell ordered, so I just opened it and put everything in the drawer." "I don't know how many you bought-do you want to count them and make sure they're all there?" Before I could reach for it, Dashiell leaned over to look inside the box- Those few seconds dragged on forever. When I heard Dashiell's soft laugh, I felt like I wanted to die. "Damn, Aurelia. Three days and you're already this horny?" He grabbed the box and shoved it into my arms: "Well, there you go. Anything else? I don't want Thalia getting jealous or whatever." With both of them staring at me, my face was burning. I wanted to explain, to say something, but what was the point? This was it. We were done. I knew this was probably the last time I'd ever see Dashiell. So I said nothing. Just turned around and walked away. In the elevator, I opened the text from my boss about transferring to Austin. This time, I didn't hesitate. I typed back: [Yes.] Once I got outside, I dumped everything from the box straight into the trash. Just like Dashiell. I didn't want any of it anymore. 16:22 Dear Hubby, Your Biggest Mistake? Thinking I'd Beg Instead of Burn 15.0