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Love, romance, andhappily ever afterwere my drugs.
They also made my heart ache these days.
My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. One look at my device made my heart flutter and wince at the same time.Will.
His handsome face on my screen made my heart skip a beat. Even with the problems we were having, I adored him.
“Hello,” I answered sweetly.
Tate cleared his throat in an annoyed manner. Maybe my attempt to be positive was a bit too much. I peered over my shoulder, but his back was to me, so I shrugged him off. He hadn’t been too keen on Will since the picture of him and the blonde had blown up his Twitter account.
“Hey, M, how’s it going? All set for tomorrow?”
Right off the bat, I stiffened. This wasn’t going to be a pleasant call. Will had the guilty tone in his voice, the one I pretended didn’t exist but had known on an intimate level for the last couple of months. Or, shall I say, sinceher.
“It’s going great! I’m just wrapping up with Lily and Tate. It’s gorgeous, Will. Absolutely gorgeous. Let’s celebrate! Meet me for dinner?” I asked with girlie influxes in my voice to show my excitement, hoping I was wrong about the nature of his call and the guilt in his voice.
“I’m so proud of you. I really am. But I can’t meet you for dinner. I’m back at the office. A major deal just popped up that needs to be completed ASAP. I’ll make it up to you…promise.”
“Oh” was all I could muster with the sound of my breaking heart distracting me. I gripped my stomach, then snapped out of my grief. “What time will you be home?”
“No idea... don’t wait up. I gotta go. Dad just walked into my office.”
Damn him for lying, again. His dear old dad wasn’t in his office. I had just seen William St. James II not ten minutes ago having a drink in the lounge. I could have reached out and pinched his cheeks from here in the ballroom. But I had hidden from William to avoid playing nice with the serious businessman. Now I was about to hide my knowledge from Will.
“Sure, I understand.” I tried to not sound whiny or desperate but probably failed.
“You’re the best, baby. Make sure to take lots of pics for me. I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah, bye.”
My swoony, romantic mood was replaced by those sickening self-pity feelings that were usually followed by anger. A tear rolled down my face, but I wiped it away quickly so no one would see. A hand squeezed my shoulder, startling me before I could fall apart.
I turned around and saw Tate and his intense, all-knowing eyes. His thick black eyebrows, caterpillars as I called them, added to the intensity of his eyes whenever he hiked one of them, like now.
“I’ll take you out for a celebratory dinner, sweets.” There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for me, my dear Tate, but the sympathy on his face only made me feel worse.
“No, it’s fine. Go home to Viv. You neglected her all week.”
Tate tilted his head, unconvinced. I forced a pointless smile as reassurance, though I knew Tate would see right through me. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t let him ditch his wife to cheer me up.
All because my boyfriend stood me up forthe other woman. I would never do that to Viv. Their time together was precious, and it needed to be nurtured daily. Tate needed to go home to his wife and never let anyone come between them.
“Dump that lousy piece of shit already. You deserve better.” He tugged me into his arms for one of his brotherly bear hugs.
His timing was impeccable as always, except I didn’t want to be consoled. It would weaken my fight against the floodgates pushing to be set free. My chest quaked, the first sign I was about to lose the battle.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“Seriously, just be done with him. He isn’t the only guy in the world, for fuck’s sake. You’re a gorgeous woman with a heart of gold. Guys would line up for miles just for a chance at winning your heart.”
“That’s sweet of you, but it’s not that easy. I love him.” I pulled back. Those dark hairy caterpillars were inching together. “Don’t look at me like that. It creeps me out.” I playfully nudged him.
I turned my attention toward an arrangement on a banquet table, deflecting so I didn’t have to talk about Will. There wasn’t anything I could do now but deal.
“It’s easy. Show yourself a little self-respect. Demand better for yourself,” Tate argued, pulling me back away from the table. “I’m tired of watching you take his shit.” His voice was firm, but his eyes were tender.
My dear sweet Tate, if you only knew my plight, you’d flip your shit.
