AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Drew let go of my hand and stared at me with a confused look on his face as he followed his dad outside.
“Was my son the man you were talking about that day in the hospital?” She smiled.
I looked down in embarrassment. “Yes.”
“You two met in Hawaii?” she asked as she continued making the hamburger patties.
“We actually met on the plane to Hawaii. His seat was next to mine, and then we ended up at the same hotel.”
“I take it you met Jess, then?”
“Oh yeah. I met her and had dinner with them one night.”
“She’s a real peach. Isn’t she?” She smirked.
“She sure is. I ran into her while Kristen and I had lunch the other day. She was shocked to see me here in New York.”
“Oh, I’m sure she was. You said that you didn’t know where the man you met lived. How did you and Drew reconnect?”
“We bumped into each other on the street. Like literally bumped into each other.”
She gave me a wide grin. “Does Jess know the two of you are seeing each other?”
Before I could answer, Drew and his dad walked into the kitchen, and his dad took the plate of burgers out to the grill while Drew stayed behind.
“Oh, my gosh. I’m so rude. I hope you like burgers, Jillian. If you don’t, I can fix you something else.”
“Trust me, Mom. She likes burgers.” He grinned.
I narrowed my eye at him and gave his shoulder a nudge. After we finished dinner, Andrea told me and Drew to go sit outside while she and Lou cleaned up. I insisted on helping, but she shoved us out the patio door. Drew handed me a glass of wine, and we sat on the benches in the gazebo that sat in the center of the yard.
“I can’t believe you met my mom at the hospital.”
“I can’t believe she’s your mom. How weird is that?”
“Very weird. In fact, everything in relation to us is weird,” he spoke.
“How do you mean?”
“Well, my flight was canceled, and I was put on another flight in the seat next to you. Out of all the hotels in Hawaii, we ended up at the same one. We got to know each other better unexpectedly.” He winked. “Then you moved to New York, where I live, which you didn’t know, you rented the apartment that I own, which you didn’t know, and of all the nurses at the hospital, you happen to have coffee and a bagel with the one who happens to be my mother. And, lastly, of the millions of people in New York City, we run into each other on the street. If you ask me, we were supposed to meet. We would have somewhere else if we didn’t meet on that plane.”
“You think?” I bit down on my bottom lip.
“Yeah, and trust me, I’m not a believer in those types of things, but what happened with us makes me think twice.” He smiled as he grabbed my hand.
A feeling hit the pit of my stomach. It was a feeling of fear, uncertainty. He referred to this as “us.” Was I taking it in the wrong context? He was talking about the universe and the grand plan of Cupid. He wasn’t a believer, and now he was. I feared he wanted a relationship where it was just the two of us. The kind of relationship where we went on dates, had sex, and spent every second we could together.
Then it hit me. That was exactly what was happening to us. He was the first person I met from escaping my old life. I attached myself to him because he was familiar, not thinking of the repercussions of my behavior. I needed someone because of everything I was going through. A shoulder to cry on. Sex to fill the void hiding in my life's shadows. And now, he wanted more or believed it was more than what it was. Maybe I was overacting, being paranoid. But the smile on his face alluded to the fact that he considered me his girlfriend.
I’d fallen for him. There was no doubt about that. But I took it too far, being readily available when he asked. My self-journey. What a joke. Did I use Drew to comfort myself when my pity party was in full force? I had never been truly alone. I went from my parents and Grant straight into the arms of Drew Westbrook. My plan was so off course that, once again, I felt lost and confused. I was to create a home base here, spend some time with Kristen, and then jet off to continue my self-journey. But now, I felt more lost than when I left Seattle.
It was getting late, so we said goodbye to his parents and climbed into the Bentley.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about, so can we return to your place?” he said.
Nerves flooded my body because I feared he was talking about our relationship.
“Okay.”
