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“You’re a fuckin’ asshole,” Gemma snaps the moment we’re alone in the break room. She marched inside as soon as I grabbed my lunch from the fridge.
“Excuse me?”
“I just spoke to Katie, who told me exactly how your date ended.”
“Did she now?” I muse. “Did she explain it thoroughly enough, or would you like a demonstration?”
She crosses her arms over her chest, glaring. “Cut the shit, Tyler. I know y’all decided to just be friends and shared a basket of fries.”
“Best damn fries in town.” I set down my food and take a seat.
Gemma slams her palm on the table. “Why do you insist on driving me crazy?”
“How am I driving you crazy exactly? I’m sitting here, trying to eat. So either join me or go back to your fiancé.”
“Is that what your damn problem is? You left, andyearslater, I finally moved on and found a man who loves me. Now you’re hell-bent on…what exactly?” She throws up her arms, flustered. “Making me jealous? What was I supposed to do, wait for you forever? You barrel back into town and—”
“And what?” I snap. Pushing to my feet, I walk until I’m standing directly in front of her. “I’m not trying to make you jealous. Katie and I decided to be only friends, but I never said otherwise because you didn’t ask. But if you’re second-guessing your loyalty to your fiancé, then that’s on you and was happening way before I came back. So, think about that instead of accusing me of being the problem.”
“I never said you were the problem…” she whispers.
“So there’s a problem?” I ask, and she lowers her eyes. “Does he always act like he did Saturday night?”
She swallows hard before licking her lips. “No. I mean, not really. He doesn’t have a bad temper, but he’d been drinking and was frustrated.”
I step back slightly and cross my arms to stop myself from reaching out and touching her. “Over what?”
Gemma shakes her head and attempts to walk away, but I grab her arm and gently pull her back. “Tell me.”
“He wants to move the wedding to November instead of March.”
I swallow hard as the vein in my throat threatens to burst. “How come?”
“He thinks we’ve been engaged long enough and doesn’t want to wait anymore.”
Closing the gap between us, I tilt her chin up until her eyes lock with mine. “And what doyouwant?”
“I thought I knew, but now I’m second-guessing myself.” Her voice sounds so broken that I’m tempted to lower my mouth to hers and take away the pain. But I know that’d only cause more harm than good.
“Follow your heart, Gemma. You can’t go wrong then. Whatever your gut is telling you, believe it.” Cupping her face, I press a gentle kiss to her forehead.
Then I do the hardest thing I’ve done in years and walk away so I don’t do anything stupid.
Slowly but surely, Gemma’s weaving herself back into my heart as if no time ever separated us, except she’s not mine to have anymore. I gave her up, and now we’re both paying the price of the heartache.
After work, Gemma’s nowhere to be found, which is a good thing. With what happened during lunch, we both need the reminder that she’s engaged to another man.
Even worse, I don’t have time to lose myself working out because I have a conference call with Serena, Eric, and the prosecutor to discuss the deposition. Serena agreed to be on the call to help me make an educated decision.
When I’m finished showering, my phone dings with a text from Serena.
Serena: Ready? They’re supposed to call in ten minutes.
Tyler: Ready as I’ll ever be.
Serena: Good. Let me do the talking so you don’t unintentionally spill any information he doesn’t need, just to be safe.
Tyler: Got it.
