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“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said.
“Me neither. What are you doing here?” Emmett asked, sounding just slightly more confused than he did annoyed.
“I… was just eating?” Drea replied, her voice also a mix of something. From what I could tell it was shock and nerves, with a hint of apology. And with that, I was pretty sure I’d just confirmed the whole ex theory.
Shit. And considering Emmett only had one ex in his entire history of dating, that meant Drea was the one – the mystery girl who did such a number on him that he made that whole ten-day rule. Holy fuck.
My legs felt like lead as I stood there, unsure of what to do or say as another minute of strained conversation went on. But when it ended, it was my turn to feel a mix of emotions, because suddenly Drea was smiling awkwardly, giving Emmett a goodbye nod before facing me and saying, “It was so, so good to see you, Aly,” before walking away.
In the car, on the way home, I mentally wound the timeline back.
And it all made sense.
Drea had gone to Temple University for business management, and their campus was less than a twenty-minute drive from UPenn, where Emmett went. I didn’t need to reactivate my Facebook to know that they probably had mutual friends. I also didn’t need to see what Drea looked like in college to know that she was exactly the kind of sorority girl Emmett went for. Bubbly. Blonde. Legs for days.
Thinking about it, I couldn’t even be mad. Heartbroken, sure. Insecure, yes. But not mad.
Because I knew well how Drea van Dahl could mean the world to someone. She definitely meant the world to me.
I had been applying to Vandermark Restaurants for ages before she finally emailed me back one day. The company was the most notable restaurant group in Manhattan, and having mapped out my plan to save Dad’s business, I knew Vandermark was the best place for me to get connections, network my ass off and fully grasp the industry in the way I needed to if I wanted to successfully open a restaurant.
And Drea wound up like my fairy godmother there.
She took me under her wing. She was patient and nurturing. When I was down, she made me feel taken care of. When I was up, she fanned the fire of my confidence and reminded me that I could achieve anything I wanted.
Basically, she was amazing, and I didn’t know how to handle the fact that Emmett had once dated her.
Though he vehemently denied the fact at dinner.
We had managed to move on from the Drea fiasco, though it was not without me actively trying. I’d pried for as long as I could, asking Emmett who she was to him. He said they had worked with each other in the past but preferred to move on from the topic, and that we could talk about it another time.
And for a multitude of reasons, I obliged.
One, I didn’t want to ruin the otherwise beautiful night we’d had so far. Two, my faith in Emmett was in no way shaken.
I wouldn’t let it be.
He loved me, and I knew that. He said he’d do anything to make me happy, and I believed him – especially that night when we climbed into bed, and I nestled back into his chest.
We got into position as he draped his arm over me, tucking his palm under my ribs and cupping my breast. His thumb moved back and forth over my nipple as he kissed the top of my head, letting out that low, rumbly mmm that just sounded like home.
It was all I needed to hear to feel just fine.
Because as far as I knew, everyone had a past. But that didn’t mean that the present counted for nothing. In fact, it only made it count for that much more. After all, in the present, we were older and wiser. We’d survived our hurdles and learned our lessons, which meant the decisions we made now were the ones we knew were best for us. So as I drifted off to sleep, I did it at ease, with a smile.
Because in this room, in these arms, I was convinced that this was exactly what love felt like.
30
ALY
I knew that the next day, Emmett had meetings in the city from noon to seven. They were all regarding Saturday’s gala, and I could tell they had him tired by the middle of the day, because he called sounding exhausted.
“I know you’re at work. I just wanted to hear your voice,” he said as a bunch of cars honked in the background. When he asked about work, I told him about the nice guests who left Hannah a fifty percent tip, which led Evie and me to Google them, which led us to the discovery that they were huge food bloggers with several million followers on Instagram. They’d already posted pictures of our lobster roll and Bloody Mary, so we were fairly stoked on that.
And as it turned out, I needed the good mood.
Because by 10PM, Emmett called to let me know he wouldn’t be coming home.
