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“A few more hours, unfortunately, or I’d come get you now.” He lets out a strained sigh, and I can hear the frustration in his voice. “I miss you, beautiful. Get some rest. I’ll check in with you in the morning.”
“Goodnight.”
I change into one of Connor’s t-shirts I stole this weekend. Pulling the collar to my face, I inhale deeply. It still smells like him. I climb back into bed and snap a selfie of myself in his shirt, a playful grin spread across my face. I open my text app to send one last message along with the picture before I crash.
Hadley:
I miss you. Can’t wait till tomorrow.
Putting the phone on the nightstand, I fall asleep just as a reply comes through.
I wake up with a jolt, hearing a commotion downstairs. I unlock the bedroom door and creep downstairs to find Andy and Naomi yelling in the foyer.
“Do you really think you can go back to fucking just her?” she snarls at him.
“Damn it, Naomi! Keep your voice down. She’s sleeping.”
But his attempt to quiet her is an epic fail. She notices me over his shoulder, a glare taking over her otherwise pretty face. She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him in for a kiss, an obvious power play on her part. At first, he tries to push her away, but I watch as he falls further into the kiss, my stomach roiling at the scene before me. I clear my throat, and he quickly pushes her away.
“Had, it’s not what it looks like.” The desperation makes his voice sound shriller as it echoes toward me through the open floorplan of our home. “I told you, we’re over. I want to make things better with us.”
“You don’t have to stop on my account. You wanted to open the marriage. It’s open. I’m not ending things with Connor. You do what you want.” I walk past them to the kitchen for some coffee, my head held high.
I hear him grumble something at her and the front door slams shut. Heavy footsteps sound in the hall getting closer to me.
“What do you mean, you’re not ending things with Connor?” he snarls. “Of course you are. We’re fixing this. You’re my wife.”
I roll my eyes as I pour my coffee and turn to go back to the spare room to avoid him. It’s too early to deal with him this morning.
“Andy,youare the one who wanted to find someone to have a ‘full life experience’ with, soyoucan deal with the fact that I’m enjoying that ‘full life experience’ as well. God knows I’ve had to deal with youexperiencingthings with Naomi for the last few months.”
“Get the fuck back here, Hadley. We’re not done.” His voice is low, the rage rolling off him like waves.
Instead of acknowledging him, I simply continue back to the spare room and drink my coffee, pride filling my chest at having stood up for what I wanted. I check the message from Connor telling me he’s counting the moments until I’m in his arms, which just makes me swoon harder. I send a quick response before I go into the group chat and text back and forth with Kat and Ryan for a bit, letting them know what’s going on and trying to determine my next move. My phone lights up with a response instantly.
Ryan:
Well, babes, what do YOU want?
I take a deep breath as I read the message.
WhatdoI want?
Chapter Seventeen
CONNOR
My eyes fly open to the sound of water running.
What the fuck? I sit up quickly and look around, double-checking my surroundings. I am in fact in my own bed, in my own house.
Damn. I thought maybe I had fallen asleep at Hadley’s, but no such luck. I jump out of bed, going in search of the running water. Like the first victim of a horror movie that goes to investigate a strange noise in the basement, I creep through my house looking for an intruder. Maybe I should have grabbed a bat from my closet. Well, too late now, I suppose. Rounding the corner to my kitchen, I come to a screeching halt when I find my baby sister, Alannah, and my nephew, Sean, making breakfast.
I immediately relax and send up a silent prayer, thankful that I fell asleep in my gray sweats now that I realize I’m not alone. Alannah’s back is toward me, and she’s cooking something that smells a lot like bacon on the stove, her bright red hair tied in a messy knot on top of her head. Sean’s doing dishes at the sink.
Ah, so that’s where the running water was coming from.
I clear my throat before speaking. “You could have called first, sister.”
