Former boyfriend from ManhattanChapter 1

Six months after we broke up,my ex,Damian Blackwood,DM'd me a screenshot.

It's a photo I posted three minutes ago.

A silhouette of me at a gallery opening,with the caption:[I miss you].

Before I could reply,my phone rang.

It was him.

I heard the muffled bass of a party in the background.

Then came his voice—that damn lazy drawl,as controlling as ever.

"So,you finally came to your senses?

I hooked up with a model,so what?

It's not like I stopped loving you.

This little tantrum of yours needs to end.

Besides,compared to the girls around me,your quiet socialite type is honestly a little boring."

A text notification popped up—an address for a rooftop bar in Manhattan.

His voice,slurring slightly,dropped to a command.

"Thirty minutes.Get here,and we'll pretend nothing ever happened."

I let out a soft,"Okay."

Then I hung up and blocked his number for good.

Damian always forgot one thing.

When a girl like me decided to move on…

We actually moved on.

We chose someone we could build a real life with.

I honestly thought the call was another one of Damian's late-night whims.

But my best friend's frantic call woke me up the next morning.

She was hysterical about a limited-edition Aston Martin parked outside my building.

I looked out my window.

And there he was,leaning against the driver's side door.

That was when I fully woke up.

He was serious.

Six months apart,and he was standing there like nothing ever happened.

A bag of croissants from the French patisserie I used to love was in his hand.

He saw me,but didn't ask why I'd ghosted him the night before.

With a casual gesture,he opened the passenger door.

It was a move straight out of our past.

He motioned for me to get in,holding out the bag.

"They're still warm."

I did not take them.

I just looked him straight in the eye.

"Are you enjoying this,Damian?"