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“I am. I didn’t sleep all night.”
The second the words left my mouth, I realized my mistake.
His brow furrowed. “Really? You were snoring halfway into the massage I gave you.”
“I, uh, woke up at midnight and couldn’t go back to sleep.”
He didn’t respond, just kept watching me until I couldn’t stand the silence anymore.
“I was thinking about work. That’s what kept me awake.”
“Oh.”
God, why did he have to look at me like that? I lifted my coffee, hiding behind it as much as I could.
Eventually, Calder shook his head. “Any plans for today?”
“I’m going to meet my friend from work for a yoga class at nine.”
“Where?”
My mind went completely blank, even though I really did have plans to meet Lacey. “Umm... Downtown. I forget the name of the place.”
His gaze lingered too long. Or maybe that was my guilt talking. It wasn’t even eight in the morning, and everything that came out of my mouth felt like a damn lie—even the truth. This already had the makings of the longest day in history, and I’d only been up ten minutes. Great, just great.
An hour later, I walked into the yoga class. I’d thought putting distance between Calder and me would help, but all I could think about was how I could possibly survive the weekend.
Lacey waved and smiled, pointing to the spot next to her.
I walked over, opened my mouth to say hello, and…burst into tears.
“Oh my God.” Lacey climbed to her feet and put her arm around me. “What happened? Are you okay?”
I couldn’t even answer. I just sobbed.
She turned me to face her. “Are you physically hurt? Should I call an ambulance?”
I managed to shake my head. Lacey looked around. All eyes in the room were on us.
“Come on.” She picked up her yoga mat and walked us toward the door. “Let’s go have coffee instead.”
I let her lead me down the block and to a table at the back of a nearby shop, where she guided me to sit in a seat. “I’ll get us a couple of coffees. Are you going to be okay by yourself for a few minutes?”
I sniffled back tears and nodded. “I’m good.”
When she came back, it didn’t take much prompting for me to spill everything I’d been holding in. I felt like a shaken bottle of champagne—once the cork popped, there was no stopping it.
To Lacey’s credit, she didn’t seem to judge, and she managed not to look shocked. If she felt either one, she hid it pretty damn well.
“Okay. Well…things happen for a reason, sweetie. When you first told me about your boyfriend’s hot friend, I figured it was just attraction. But maybe something’s missing in your relationship, and you didn’t realize it. Maybe you went in search of it without meaning to.”
“Nothing’s missing.” My voice cracked as I wiped my cheek. “Calder is such a good boyfriend.”
“He can be the best boyfriend in the world and still not be the right one for you, Talia.”
“I guess.”
“I’m betting the two guys are very different.”
