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Ididn’t realize how long I’d slept. I honestly thought Christopher would’ve woken me up by now but as I took a look at the time, I knew that everyone must be starving having waited around for me to eat. I pulled the covers back and was about to make my presence known when I heard Thomas.
“I’ll be back in twenty,” he called. “Going to grab us all a takeaway.”
“Thanks man, I’m feeling the jet lag, too,” Christopher announced as my heart soared. He wanted to just relax knowing I needed my strength with everything that we would need to push in the next few days. “It means a lot.”
I heard the door close as I began to thread my fingers through my hair and straighten myself up to join Lauren and Christopher. I stopped with my hand prized on the handle as I heard my soldier boy’s voice.
“You and him are too intuitive.” Christopher chuckled. “It’s like you planned this.”
“I did,” Lauren admitted. “Don’t be coy, Christopher. I know you wanted to chat. I watched you looking at me when you told Thomas and I about your engagement and about the baby.”
I froze solid, unable to move. My heart stuttered in my chest as my lungs refused to inflate fully, halting my ability to breathe properly. I couldn’t interrupt whatever was going on.
“You know me too well,” Christopher mumbled. My back was pressed against the wall as I situated my hands on the sideboard next to me, using it to stop me from losing my balance. “Just with our past. I wanted to tell you to your face. I couldn’t bear to hurt you.”
I felt the shards hit my heart and the pain radiated deeply in my chest.
Lauren and Christopher. They were an item.
He never told me.
None of them did.
Was I just a laughing-stock? A joke to them all?
I couldn’t listen to anymore. I wiped the stray tear from my cheek and placed my hand over my stomach. I forced my feet back to the bed and lay back down, still feeling out of sorts. I shouldn’t have listened. I know that but I’m glad I did because now it’s opened up my eyes.
If I didn’t know that about his past, what else was he hiding from me?
All I had to do was get through the next few days, act the strong person I am before heading home to my own surroundings. Hopefully then I’ll know what to do for the best. Not just for me but for my little bean, too.
Because that’s all that matters now—not my heart or my body—my baby. That was all that mattered.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
CHRISTOPHER
“Just with our past. I wanted to tell you to your face. I couldn’t bear to hurt you.” I reached across and placed my hand on top of Lauren’s. “When I first met you, I thought you were it for me. I always assumed that when people said you were secretly in love with your best friend, I thought they were just gossipers trying to stir the pot.” I chuckled. “I guess I never saw the connection between you and Thomas.”
She smiled warmly at me. “You’re not the only one. Thomas didn’t see it for a long time.” She played with the stem of her glass. “The only person that ever acknowledged that he could feel something for me was Luke.”
I laughed when she said that. “Yes, Luke. Our very own little matchmaker.” We stared at each other for several moments, the smiles slowly slipping from our faces. “I always thought that we would be a good fit. That maybe you could love me.”
“Christopher.” She gazed down at the worktop and I knew that she was collecting her thoughts. I suddenly worried that she thought maybe I was confused or lost in my memories.
“Lauren.” I trailed my fingertips over the back of her hand. “I know now that was never going to happen. I never loved you and you never loved me. I mean, we only had a couple of dates. Thomas quickly woke up and realized what was right in front of him all of this time.”
“It was always him, Christopher.”
“I know that.” I nodded my head. “What I feel for her…” I paused, a little unsure on how to voice it without it coming across as cheesy. “I feel like Isobel completes me. Like when I’m with her, I can do it all.” I looked at Lauren and tensed when I saw that her eyes were glassy as they reflected back at me. “Lauren…”
She pulled her hand from mine and came around the worktop with her arms wide open. She wrapped me in a tight hug and rocked us from side to side.
“Christopher, I am so happy for you.” It would have bothered me the way she had to hug me on the side of my hearing aid but since being with Isobel, I was coming to accept my disability. I was now living my life for me and not letting my disability define me. “This is what I have always wanted for you. For you to be happy and loved.”
I ducked my head and pushed my head into her neck, taking the comfort that she was so freely giving. I tried to pull back but we were disturbed by Thomas coming back in through the door. He froze when he saw us.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he stepped further into the room and set the Chinese food bags down on the worktop.
