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Hadley:
Ordering from Asian Best. Do you want your usual or something different?
Andy:
How? You don’t have your phone.
Hadley:
I got a new one. I was wanting to have dinner here when you got home. Do you know when you’ll be back?
Andy:
The usual is fine. Be home in fifteen minutes.
Reading his last message, I find myself standing with my jaw hanging open. He’s not been home this early in nearly a year. I dial the number for the restaurant and place my order quickly. I’m finishing picking up from my girls’ day when Andy walks in with the bag of food in hand.
“How did you? What?” The confusion is apparent with my inability to complete one question before asking another.
“Huan pulled up as I was getting out of my car,” he chuckles.
“Oh, makes sense,” I reply as I cross the space between us and move to grab the bag from him so I can plate our dinner.
He grabs my wrist, and I tense. He pulls me to his chest with a softness in his eyes I haven’t seen since before our anniversary dinner and presses a sweet, gentle kiss against my lips that has me looking up at him like a deer in the headlights. Unsure of what I should do or how to feel, I just stand there frozen, allowing him to press his lips to mine until I feel the attempts to deepen the kiss.
I push away from him abruptly.
“Andy, I’m not ready for that.” My voice is barely a whisper; I’m terrified as to what his response is going to be.
He jerks back, and I flinch. The smirk that quirks at his lips has my stomach rolling.
“If you were this much of a prude with him, no wonder he’s already with someone else.” His snide tone takes me aback.
I know I have no right to expect Connor to wait for me when I can’t promise him anything, but it hurts that he didn’t tell me he started seeing someone else.
“I just want him to be happy,” I say sincerely, my attempt at masking my features faltering as the weight of his words makes me admit something I’ve been fighting for weeks.
I am so irrevocably, deeply, madly in love with Connor. And I absolutely fucked it up.
I walk past Andy with the bag and work to get our dinner on plates, meeting him back in the dining room at our table. I sit quietly, taking small bites from the crab rangoon I ordered.
“Seriously, you’re eating nothing but deep-fried cream cheese and wontons?” he asks, disgust clear in his tone.
I don’t say anything, just sit there running through the last year or so in my mind. Now I realize he didn’t start acting like this until about eight months ago. Nearly three months before he asked that we open our relationship.
“Andy, may I ask you something?” I look up at him through my dark lashes, not quite confident enough to meet his eyes.
“What?” The shortness strengthens my resolve.
I look him in the eye and open my mouth to ask the question when the doorbell rings. I stand to answer when he raises a brow as if to ask where I think I’m going when my face still looks like I went a few rounds in the ring. I lower myself back down, and he goes to answer the door.
I hear hushed voices and stand up, quietly strolling towards the opening of the corridor. I come to a halt as soon as I seeNaomi at our front door…again. Her stomach is protruding just a little, and I realize what’s happening before I step closer. The voices are clearer now.
“Naomi, I told you not to come here. I can’t afford to lose her right now. The prenup my parents made us sign will give her everything if she finds out about us.” I hear Andy’s charm that used to be saved for me.
“I don’t care, Andy. I’m not going through this alone. It’s not just us anymore. We’ll figure it out. Please, babe, we can deal with whatever we need to.” I hear the tears in her voice.
My eyes prick with my own tears trying to break free. I don’t want to admit it, but at the same time, I can’t say I’m surprised. He’s obviously still seeing her. Every word to me has been a lie.
