Page 35 of American Love Story

Sorry to tell you last minute, but I won’t make it tonight. Have a good rest of your weekend.

After that, I turned off my phone.

I looked at the couch where Ari and Yin were sitting. They were talking quietly, their heads so close together their foreheads touched, and I decided this would be where I’d place my energy for now. I needed to focus on the places where I was needed. “What would you guys like to watch? There’s a bunch of new stuff on Netflix, or we can buy something?”

Yin perked up and Ari shook his head. “Bébé, I’m not watchingTo All the Boys I’ve Loved Beforeagain.”

Yin scrunched his face like he couldn’t understand how a person could be that heartless. “But we haven’t seen it in a really long time.”

Ari rolled his eyes and put his arm around his boyfriend. “Three weeks is not a long time. We saw it when we babysat your niece.”

Yin huffed again and I couldn’t help but laugh, despite the hole in my stomach.

“How aboutBlack Panther?” They both seemed pleased with that answer, and before they changed their mind, I fired up the movie.

“We can pause it when the food comes.” I turned around and noticed they were already settled in on the sofa with a throw over them. Comfortable in my house, and I felt glad that at least I could provide Ari a space where he could be himself while he figured things out.

I couldn’t use my attraction for Easton as a distraction anymore. No matter how much I ached to run upstairs and apologize for leaving him hanging, for hurting him. It was better to do this now than later, before we were both too emotionallyinvested. It felt like a betrayal to even think like this, but my own wants could not take precedence this time.

Easton

I didn’t see his face, but I didn’t need to. I would recognize those shoulders anywhere. Patrice was embracing another man outside of the building at 10:00 a.m. on a Sunday. From my living room window I had a front-row seat of the unfolding scene. He stood there, his face serious, both hands in his pockets as he watched the man drive off and then went back inside. I felt like the skin on my face was burning, jealousy and humiliation coursing through me.

I was a fucking fool.

Patrice wasn’t busy working like I told myself when I got his text last night as I frantically ran around preparing the elaborate dessert I’d ended up shoving into the fridge untouched.

He was withsomeone else.

All that shit he said on the phone the other night was just that…shit he’d said. I had to finally get it through my stupid fucking head that Patrice and I weren’t doing the same thing. We were nowhere near the same page. I need to leave this alone.

And yet, before I knew what I was doing, I was running down the two flights of stairs to his place and knocking on his door. I didn’t even have the excuse of being drunk. Gearing up for a big case in less than two weeks meant I couldn’t afford killing my productivity with hangovers.

So within seconds, I was in front of Patrice’s apartment door, knocking on it like I had a right to it, with all of one mimosa in my system. I had no idea what I thought I was doing, but I felt so hurt. I wasn’t letting him off with a text, like I was nothing.

No, I needed to hear from him why he’d strung me along like that.

When he finally opened the door, I saw a blend of surprise and weariness on his face. Not exactly what I was hoping for, butnot exactly unexpected either. Besides, I didn’t come expecting a warm welcome, I’d come to give Dr. Denis a piece of my mind. Before he said anything, he brought up his arm so he could look at the watch on his wrist. When he saw the time, he raised an eyebrow in question. Like that was supposed to embarrass me.

“How can I help you, Easton?”

That aloofness cut deep, and for a moment, I hesitated. I’d wanted to believe there was something between us, but when I saw him shut down like this, I faltered. His cool eyes made me wonder if I’d imagined everything, and it made me feel so pathetic. I breathed through the heat I knew would probably creep up on my face if I didn’t calm down.

“Just wanted to say I hoped you had a nice date.” I was practically spitting out the words, but the look of confusion on his face mollified me a bit. Once I was done, I didn’t even give him a chance to respond and before I humiliated myself more, I started turning away.

But like it always had the power to do, Patrice’s deep voice brought me to a dead stop. “That wasn’t a date, Easton. That wasAri.He and Yin stayed over last night.” He sighed wearily and I stood there, with my back to him waiting to hear more. “Ari got stopped by the police yesterday afternoon driving back from Yin’s place.”

I turned around then. Worry for Ari stamping out my pity party. “Is he okay? Did they do anything to him?” My mouth felt wooden when I talked, dreading all the possible terrible answers to that question.

Patrice’s face was thunderous, but he shook his head before he spoke. “They were rude and stopped him for going eight miles over the speed limit, but they let him go.” The “fucking ridiculous” in his tone did not go unnoticed, and I couldn’t disagree.

“He was a little freaked out and I invited him and Yin over to hang out and watch a movie. His home situation is not the best right now, and I wanted him to have a place to calm down and talk about it before going back there.”

His perfectly reasonable answer made me feel even worse, instead of relieved. He was helping out a friend and I made the whole thing about me. I nodded and was about to apologize for my incredibly inappropriate behavior when his voice pulled me out of my brooding.

“No. Don’t do that,” he said as he gently tugged on my arm and pulled me inside.

“Do what?” I sounded surly and unhappy but still let him guide me into his place. He was probably trying to not give our neighbors a front-row seat to whatever it was that we were doing.