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The voice tore through me and stopped me in my tracks. I froze and was devastated when I turned around to see the wrong Fisher brother chasing after me. I felt so stupid for even thinking that it might be Frank coming for me, to right his wrong or to apologize.
“Ryan?” I choked out his name as I waited for him to catch up to me. “Ryan, was that Frank’s . . .” I couldn’t even say it, couldn’t bear to have my fear verified, even though I already knew the truth.
“I’m really sorry, Claudia. It’s not what it looks like.” His expression was pained as he gripped the back of his neck briefly before dropping his hand and looking away.
“How the hell could it not be what it looked like?” I spat out. I knew exactly what it looked like, exactly what it was.
“I mean, it is,” Ryan said, stumbling over his words, clearly uncomfortable. “But it’s not that black and white.”
I figured he was trying to cover for his brother. Of course he’d cover for him. Those brothers seemed to be the very definition of loyal, at least when it came to each other. I stifled a sick laugh at the idea of Frank being loyal to any other person.
“What are you talking about? That’s his girlfriend, though, right? Frank has a girlfriend?” My throat tightened as I finally choked out the words, but everything started to make sense as things that had seemed odd to me before clicked together like a puzzle.
“Yeah, but it’s complicated.”
I shook my head at his crappy reasoning. “No. It’s really not.”
Frank having a girlfriend was a deal breaker. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. Frank didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would lie and cheat, but it just went to prove that you couldn’t always trust your heart in these matters.
“Claudia, it’s not my story to tell, otherwise I’d tell you everything,” Ryan said, obviously trying to make me feel better.
That wasn’t going to happen. I was done. Whatever had sparked to life between Frank and me now needed to die. I’d stomp on it until only embers remained, and throw water on the rest.
“Please trust me when I tell you that there’s more to this than you think,” Ryan pleaded as if he could read my mind and see the defeat there.
“No, there’s not more to this. There’s nothing to tell. Frank has a girlfriend, and he lied to me. He lied! I feel so stupid,” I blurted, confessing all the thoughts running through my head. They kept spilling out of my mouth without a filter. “Make sure you tell him to lose my number. And not to ever fucking contact me again.”
“Claudia!”
Ryan shouted after me as I stalked away, a million thoughts running through my head as my heart broke into a million jagged pieces. He kept talking, but I didn’t stop or turn around. There was nothing left to say.
Frank was a liar and a cheater.
Just like my father.
• • •
“He has a girlfriend?” Britney asked for the fifth time as she placed a quart of mint-chocolate-chip ice cream with two spoons between us on the couch.
I’d walked through our front door fully composed, my anger keeping me from falling apart until I spotted Britney’s face. One look at her and all my resolve went out the window. I started to cry, confessing the ugly truth to her as I collapsed onto the couch and tried to pull myself together.
“He has a girlfriend,” I repeated, my tone swinging between sadness and anger. My emotions were all over the place. One second I was mad, and then devastated, and then mad all over again. It was a relentless merry-go-round, one I apparently had little control over.
Britney shook her head in disbelief. “You’re sure? A hundred percent certain?”
I glared at her. She now knew every detail from this past evening as well as I did. “She kissed him.” I scooped a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth. It melted instantly, the cold creaminess turning into warm liquid before I added, “Like he was familiar to her. It wasn’t something new. They were comfortable together.” Seeing her press her body against Frank’s she’d done it a million times before played in my mind on a loop.
“I just can’t believe it.” Britney shook her head, echoing my own thoughts.
“Ryan could have said something to me. He could have clued me in, given me a hint, anything,” I spat out.
“It wasn’t Ryan’s place to say something to you. Can you imagine him telling you something like that behind Frank’s back? Frank would murder him.”
I hated agreeing with her, but she was right. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced out a breath through my nose. “No, you’re right. I just feel like such a fool. There I was, falling for Frank, and Ryan knew the whole time that he wasn’t available. I must have looked so stupid.”
“You’re not stupid. And you didn’t do anything wrong. But I guess now everything sorta makes sense.”
“Like what? What exactly makes sense?” I choked back a sob, trying to keep my emotions in check, but it was a losing battle. I was a wreck.
