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Brody starts walking around the condo, his eyes traveling over everything he can find. He opens doors, sticking his head inside, only to reemerge.
“What are you doing?” I ask, walking behind him.
“I’m looking for proof.”
I exhale deeply. “You promised you would leave after I told you the truth about why I wouldn’t agree to your arrangement.”
“I said I would leave after you told me the truth. I’m not sure you’ve told me the truth yet.”
He walks around our living room, staring at the white and light-gray massive walls that take up almost two stories with a few large pieces of artwork. He raises an eyebrow at me as he walks down the hallway to the bedroom that Gabe and I share, which is also decorated in gray and white.
“Nope, I don’t believe you.”
I frown. “And why don’t you believe me?”
I need him to believe me. I need him to leave. He knows enough. He can’t stay and have dinner with us tonight. He’ll find out far too much that I don’t want him to know.
“Because I haven’t found a single picture of you and your fiancé together in this entire condo. Not one single image.” He walks to the closet and throws the door open, peeking inside. “Because, despite the fact that you say you live here, there are less than a dozen pieces of clothing of yours in this closet. Because, despite having a fiancé who lives in LA, you still have a home in Albuquerque along with a whole slew of animals, not to mention your veterinarian clinic. You claim to have a fiancé, yet you fuck me on a vacation without him less than six months ago. You claim to have a fiancé, yet you have no ring.”
I look down at my bare hand as a tiny bit of hope creeps up inside me. I run into the bathroom and pull out the engagement box out of the top drawer. I open the box and pull out the large square diamond ring, which is easily four carats in size. I place it back on my hand after having not worn it for the past two weeks, and then I race back to the bedroom, holding out my hand to Brody.
“You’re wrong. I have a ring.”
Brody eyes the large diamond on my finger with suspicion. “How do I know that’s not a fake?”
I roll my eyes. “Does it look like a fake?”
He cocks his head from side to side as he stares at it. “How would I know? I’m not a diamond expert.”
“It’s not a fake. Does it look like Gabe can’t afford to buy me a nice diamond?” I hold my hands out to my sides, pointing at all the nice things in the condo that we share together.
“No, I’m sure Gabe could afford to buy you that ring. How do I know it’s an engagement ring and not just a ring he bought for a close friend?”
“Really?”
“Fine, it looks like an engagement ring. But, if you’re engaged, why weren’t you wearing it? Why was it in a box here instead of on your finger in Albuquerque?”
“Because we want to keep our engagement private. Gabe is pretty well known out here, and I want to keep it out of the tabloids as long as we can.”
He narrows his eyes. “So, you don’t ever wear your ring in public?”
“No.”
“When? When did he propose?”
I bite my lip and look away from him. I really don’t want to answer him.
He chuckles. “You can’t even come up with a quick story of how he proposed.”
“He proposed to me the night I got back from the Bahamas. We weren’t on the best of terms, which is why I went on vacation. I wanted to get some clarity on what I wanted when I returned. I came home when I found out he’d been in a motorcycle accident. I’d never been so scared in my life. I realized what a mistake I’d made. He got down on one knee and proposed in his hospital room despite being beaten up pretty badly. I said yes and haven’t hesitated since.”
He just stands there, staring at me, processing.
I sigh.
And then he suddenly starts moving. He walks out of the bedroom while I follow after him, curious if I finally said the thing that will make him leave. He doesn’t walk toward the front door though. Instead, he walks into the kitchen, finds the bar, and starts digging through the alcohol. He shakes his head.
“What?” I snap.
