She sprang to her feet, barely sticking a landing with the high heels. “Oh, so now you believe me?”

“I’ll explain if you get in the car.” Duke’s voice was calm, but his face was tense.

The old man bounced up and down on the bus stop bench, then loudly passed gas. “That’s what she thinks of your offer!”

Angel rolled her eyes. Why did every man think they had a say in what she did? The smell of rotten eggs attacked her nostrils.

She marched to the car, opened the back door, and sat on the edge of the seat, glowering at him. “Take me right home. No screwing around.”

Duke held up his palms in surrender. “Whatever you want, I promise.” He lowered his hands, gave the driver instructions to her apartment, and turned to her. Quietly, he said, “Roland told me it wasn’t you.”

She gazed out the window, trying to avoid his eye contact in the reflection. “I can’t believe you’d think I’d do that in the first place. Do I seem like the kind of person who sneaks off to have sex with a stranger? A married stranger?”

“No! I didn’t really believe it at the time. I was … confused. I have no idea what games Regina is playing, but I’m sorry you were caught in the middle.”

“Didn’t Roland tell you?” She faced him.

“Tell me what?”

“It was Regina. He was, uh, with Regina in the bathroom.”

Duke leaned his head against the seat back and took a deep breath, holding it.

“I’m sorry, Duke.”

He blew out the air in a whoosh. “Poor Kinley. It’s not like I have feelings for Regina—but my best friend? Why’s he gotta go there?”

“Douche bag move,” Angel agreed. New York’s sweetheart was anything but.

Duke shut his eyes. “My whole life, my family and friends have had these high expectations for me, but not one of them seems to care about meeting the bar for being a decent human being.” His words came slowly. “As a kid, I thought the better I played, people would like me more. I loved baseball when I was in school, sliding through dirt, practicing with my team before we went out for pizza. But even then, people were nice to me because I was good, not because I’m me. It’s taken a while to see it’s my fame they like. Even my pops.”

“Not one real friend? Do you think that’s true?”

“I thought Roland had my back, but he’s out for himself, always. There was Mark…”

He grabbed a bottle of water from the bucket at his feet and drank it down in a few large gulps.

“You don’t have to talk about him if you don’t want to.”