AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So says the toe-killer.”
“Sorry, what?”
“Nothing. Never mind. I’m fine.” I take a big sip of wine.Totally fine.Why wouldn’t I be? “How was your day?” I ask, trying to deflect attention.
“Stressful.” He leans back and sighs, telling me about a client that’s been bugging him a lot lately over minor problems. “Then there’s the apartment hunting. I hired a realtor out in Boston, but she’s not coming back with any viable options. I’m starting to think I need someone else.”
I feel like my body sinks into the couch. “I thought I was coming up with a list.”
He glances at me, a hint of surprise in his expression. “You are. But I thought—”
“Or did you think that I wasn’t coming with you?”
Silence. He stares at me. My body goes numb, and I’m doing all I can to hold myself together.
“Janine called,” he says finally, piercing some of the pressure. “She told you about Appalachian Peaks.”
But it’s not enough. His bland stare, the even way he says it, like it’s nothing. While I’m vibrating inside, a piece of crystal about to explode.
“Why did you tell her to put my resume out there?”
“I didn’t know they’d be interested.” He shakes his head, grimacing. “All right, that’s not true. I knew they would be. Ihopedthey would be, at least.”
“Why?” I ask, trying not to let myself cry, but a lump forms in my throat. I’m embarrassed, upset, betrayed, a thousand different things.
I thought we were forming something deeper.
A real bond, an actual connection. I can’t call it love—or an actual relationship—not when our arrangement is so complicated. But I thought we had gotten past this point and were finally moving somewhere better.
Sleeping together. Laughing, eating, bathing together. I’ve been thinking of him as more than my roommate, more than a partner in a wild scheme we cooked up.
Now I’m wondering if that was entirely one-sided.
He stands, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his hand. “I should’ve told you,” he says. “I’m sorry about that. I should’ve warned you. Janine called about getting me a new assistant, mentioned the Appalachian Peaks job, and I knew I had to throw your name out there. I mean, it’s a dream job, isn’t it? I couldn’t ignore that chance for you.”
“I still don’t understand why you did it. We had a plan. Don’t you want me to come to Boston with you?”
“I do,” he says before looking at me. “And I don’t.”
That kills me.
I don’t.
I open my mouth, but I have to shut it again, otherwise I’ll start crying. This is so mortifying I could throw myself out the window.
Worst of all, it’s my fault.
I let myself start to feel this way for him. I knew it was a mistake—he even all but told me it was a mistake—and I still couldn’t help it.
Wefittogether.
There’s no other way to describe it. I’ve never been with someone that gets me like he does—with absolutely no effort.
Our jokes, our stories, everything clicks. I haven’t gotten bored of him a single time since moving here, even when I’ve been pissed at him.
That’s so rare. That never happens to people, and yet here it is, happening to me.
I thought I had something good. Something all my own.
