“Oh my God, no! You haven’t done anything wrong.” I try to convey how genuine I am with my tone and my eyes, but I’m distracted by the sorrow in Connor’s. “You’ve been such a good friend to me, Connor. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you. But it’s time for me to grow up and get on with my life with Rhys, and I think it would be best for us both if we didn’t speak anymore. But truly, I’m going to miss you so much.”
I stand up and hold out my arms to him, and he’s immediately in front of me, hugging me close.
“I don’t like this, Tilly,” he says into my hair. “I know something’s going on, but if you say this is what you want, then there’s not much I can do about it. But I’ll always be here if you need me. Shout through the walls, phone me, send a damn carrier pigeon.” He repeats his words from a few weeks ago, and I manage a small smile. “I don’t care, just let me be there for you if you need me. Promise me?”
“I promise.”
With a final squeeze, we release each other, and Connor turns to leave.
“Connor?” He turns to look at me from the doorway. “Thank you for being my friend.”
“Always.”
Hours later, the house is finally looking fresh and clean, andRhys arrives home with my boxes of belongings. Not wanting to end up tripping over them for weeks, I start to unpack everything straight away. I’m surprised when Rhys offers to help.
“You’ve been busy today,” Rhys says, looking around the pristine living room as I put my books away on the bookshelf. “Didn’t have time to do the windows, though?”
Shit, I’d forgotten about the windows, even after noticing the smudges earlier.
“Oh, sorry. I meant to do them…”
Rhys rubs my arm comfortingly. “Don’t be silly,” he says. “You’ve done loads today, and with a hangover too! You can just do them tomorrow, it’s not a problem.”
You can’t even clean properly. Some wife you are.
We unpack together, Rhys never leaving my side as we move from room to room. Eventually, we get to the last box, and Rhys pulls out the kitchen scales.
“I had to rummage around in the kitchen cupboards to find these, they were right at the back,” he says, holding them up disapprovingly.
“Yeah, I didn’t use them much.” I leave out the part where Connor hid them so I couldn’t obsess over weighing everything.
“I’ll put them on the kitchen counter so they’re easy to get to. Do you want to put the calorie tracking app back onto your phone, or shall I do it?”
“Oh, I’ll do it, I guess.”
I hadn’t actually intended on starting back on my old diet, but Rhys mentioning it makes it obvious he thinks I need it. Living with Connor and his excellent cooking, I’ve probably piled on a few pounds. I can’t say for sure, though – I haven’t been brave enough to weigh myself yet. An all too familiar feeling of dread fills my stomach at the thought.
“Okay, make sure to add me to it so I can support you, okay?”Rhys says, then leaves for the kitchen.
Immediately, I drop to the bed, pull out my phone and download the app once more.
Chapter 18
She chose him
Connor
The bar at The Nightingale is jam-packed with people bustling around, having drinks, laughing with friends and raising their voices to be heard over the din. But the commotion is nothing compared to the chaos inside my head.
I’m supposed to be in the kitchen helping prep for tomorrow’s brunch service, but I’ve been dismissed by my own team for being ‘a liability’. I don’t blame them. I haven’t been able to think about anything other than Tilly since I left her at Rhys’s house this afternoon. So here I am, drinking. Because I have absolutely no fucking clue how to handle this sober.
She chose him.
I drain the dregs of my third pint and signal the bartender for another.
I can’t believe she chose him. Again.
“Actually, Si, I’ll have a whiskey,” I tell him. Not my usual drink of choice, but lager just isn’t going to cut it tonight. “Makeit a double.”
