Dumping My Cheating Ex at 200 MPH

When we were dating, Carter always called me the tortoise from The Tortoise and the Hare because I was always one step behind everyone else.

He never took me to his friend group's parties. He’d say, "Sloane, you’re not that sharp, and your reactions are so slow. How am I supposed to introduce you? Be good.

You don't want people laughing at me, do you?" Later, when my career took off and I had both fame and fortune, the host asked me to give an acceptance speech.

I stood on the stage, looking down at Carter.

I shook my trophy at him. "In the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, the tortoise is always the one who wins in the end." It was the middle of the night, and I was halfasleep. "Baby, I love you so much." I heard Carter’s quiet whisper.

I barely opened my eyes and saw a faint glow coming from under his blanket. It was the light from his phone screen. "I love you most, babe.

I’d risk anything to text you." "Don't worry, she’s been asleep for hours." I heard it loud and clear this time. I quietly closed my eyes and forced my breathing to remain steady.

He was sending Snapchat voice notes to someone. His tone was exactly how he used to talk to me when we first started dating—dripping with sweet, cheesy affection.

Out of nowhere, a knife twisted in my chest. I didn't know who was on the other end. Maybe I really was just too dense to notice the signs before.

This obviously wasn't the first time he’d done this. Carter kept whispering sweet nothings into his phone. "Sloane? She’s so slow it’s painful.

I thought she was cute at first, but she can’t even compare to you." Hearing his words, I turned over. He instantly went silent.

After a moment, he whispered my name to test me. "Sloane? Babe?" I kept my breathing deep and even, pretending to be fast asleep.

He let out a sigh of relief and whispered a final goodbye to the girl on his phone. "Go to sleep, baby. It's late. Goodnight." The room fell silent again.

Carter smoothly pulled me back into his chest, wrapping his arms around me. He always used to say he couldn't sleep soundly without holding me.

I wanted so badly to scream in his face. I wanted to tell him that being slow didn't make me stupid. How could he cheat on me and then hug me to sleep like nothing happened?

Before the tears of betrayal could spill over, I firmly pried his hand off me. But he was already fast asleep.

He just rolled over to the other side of the bed without a care in the world. Heartless people really do sleep like babies.

The tortoise and the hare were never meant to be together. In the fable, the tortoise kept crawling behind him, slow and steady. Until the hare stopped to enjoy a different view.

When I woke up the next morning, Carter was already gone. I sat up, got dressed, and lazily grabbed a piece of toast from the fridge, biting into it as I unlocked my phone.

Carter and I had shared location tracking set up on our iPhones. His location showed he was at his racing club.

Carter was the founder of the club, and his team was currently the hottest thing on the local circuit. I knew he was busy trying to build a celebrity racing team.

He’d only told me these things when he was drunk and rambling. Normally, he never talked about his work with me. He thought I wouldn't understand.

After all, I’d been slow my whole life. I moved slow, ate slow, and talked slow.

When I was a kid, my mom used to tease me that the Slow Poke Monster would catch me if I didn't eat faster. Obviously, it didn't work. I still did everything at my own pace.

All of Carter's friends knew about me, but I didn't know any of them. He once told me, "Sloane, you’re not that sharp, and your reactions are so slow.

How am I supposed to introduce you? Be good. You don't want people laughing at me, do you?" Back then, my heart swelled with bitterness.

It turned out that after all this time together, I was just an embarrassment to him.

When he saw my fallen face, he’d wrap me in his arms and soothe me. "They’re wild and loud anyway. You don't like going out.

Just stay home and wait for me, okay?" On his phone, my contact name was "Miss Tortoise." His on mine was "Mr.

Hare." When he was pursuing me, he’d play a sweet acoustic song on his guitar, humming the lyrics. "I want you to be my little tortoise forever.

I love you more every day." Those lyrics were his confession to me. My ringtone had been a recording of him singing that song ever since. "La la la la la...

La la la la la..." The ringtone suddenly cut through my thoughts, dragging me back to reality. "Sloane, some guys from the club are coming over for dinner tonight.

Clean up the place a bit, okay?" I had waited so long for the day Carter would finally introduce me to his friends. But now, all the excitement was gone. "Sure," I said flatly.

"Sloane? Is everything okay?" Maybe he noticed how cold my voice was, because he kept pressing. "I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well last night.

I'm tired." There was a tense silence on the line for a second before Carter spoke in his usual tone. "Alright then.

See you soon." I stood up and walked to the floortoceiling window, letting the morning sun wash over me. Only when the heat began to burn my skin did I step back.

Carter came home carrying heavy grocery bags. I leaned against the sofa, watching him. "Sloane, can you unpack these for me? I’m going to jump in the shower." I gave a quiet nod.

He tossed his jacket onto the couch and headed to the bedroom. Carter always kept his phone in his jacket pocket. I didn't know if he was doing it on purpose.

How could he cheat on me and still leave his phone right in front of my face? I reached into his pocket, pulled out the phone, entered the passcode, and opened it.

The passcode was still my birthday. His Snapchat and texts were completely spotless.

My contact was still pinned at the top as "Miss Tortoise." His Amazon cart was filled with a bracelet, clothes, and some random bags I had mentioned offhand recently.

Everything was about me. It was so clean. He looked like the absolute textbook definition of a devoted, loving boyfriend. I actually started to doubt myself.

Did I hallucinate everything last night? Dreams can be terrifyingly realistic sometimes. I pinched my arm hard. It stung. Okay, I was definitely awake.

I tapped the screen and made a few quick moves. I cleared out his entire Amazon cart. His payment password was a combination of our birthdays. At least that hadn't changed yet.

Carter walked out of the bedroom, toweldrying his hair. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. "What are you looking at, Sloane?

Don't you trust me?" Oh, I trusted him about as far as I could throw him. The lack of any evidence actually made it weirder.

It was too clean. "Carter, I cleared your Amazon cart." He let go of me and sat on the sofa. "I was going to buy all of that for you anyway.

Clear it if you want, as long as you're happy."

"Carter, if we ever break up, let's just make it clean. Let's not make it ugly." His hand stopped moving the towel. "Sloane, what are you talking about?" "Nothing.

You know I'm always a step behind.

I'm just worried that by the time you're ready to marry someone else, I'll still be completely in the dark." I laughed, but tears slipped down my cheeks.

Carter pulled me onto his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around me. "What's wrong, babe? Why are you suddenly crying?" The word "babe" instantly triggered the memory of last night.

I winced and tried to pull away, but his grip only tightened. "Babe, have I been neglecting you lately?

Did I do something to upset you?" Hearing him call me "babe" over and over felt like nails on a chalkboard. "Can you stop calling me that?

It’s honestly making me sick." I looked him dead in the eye when I said it. Taking advantage of his stunned silence, I slipped off his lap and stood up.

The sheer physical repulsion made me want to get as far away from him as possible. The doorbell rang. I couldn't open the door fast enough.

As soon as the lock clicked, a girl threw her arms around me. She smelled of a very familiar, sweet perfume. She pulled back, revealing a bright, pretty face. "Hey!

You must be Sloane!" "Hailey, stop messing around," Carter’s voice boomed from behind me. Hailey’s eyes immediately darted past me to Carter.

She practically lunged at him, and he caught her effortlessly. "Can you be a little more professional?" Carter chided, though his voice was soft. "I'm just bringing some youthful energy to the team!" she giggled. "Oh, please.

Hailey always treats you differently, Carter.

Usually..." One of the club guys behind her started to tease them, but another guy quickly covered his mouth. "I'll go check on the water," I said.

Without waiting for a response, I walked into the kitchen. The electric kettle was boiling, rumbling loudly as it reached its peak. I had filled it too much.

Just before the boiling water could spill over, I hit the switch to turn it off. Water that's fully boiling always burns.

The noisy laughter from the living room drifted into the kitchen.

I expressionlessly poured the hot water into a teapot and walked back out. "Carter, I’m wearing the perfume you gave me today. Does it smell good?"