Font Size:  

“Talk, you have five minutes.”ThenI’mgetting as far away from her asIcan.

“Don’ttake this out onGeorgia, okay?”Shesighs and glances around us, making sure no one is eavesdropping on our conversation, and says, “Thiswasn’t her idea, and she didn’t want to do it at first.”

“Andthat makes it okay?”

Winnieshakes her head, biting the inside of her cheek for a moment. “No, it doesn’t.Justgive her another chance.She’snot a terrible person — even if it might seem like it after last night.”

“Okay, time is up.”Thisis the last thingIwant to talk about right now, especially after the shit sleepIgot last night becauseIkept getting woken up by my dream. “Thanksfor the talk,Winnie, butIcan’t act like she didn’t do anything wrong.”Evenif it’s killing me to act accordingly.

Winniesighs and nods slowly at me. “Ifit helps anything,Ihave a feeling she’s been hiding from her feelings for you because she thought she was meant to be with my brother.”

No, that doesn’t make me feel better.Itjust makes it worse, because it took her spending an evening withWinnie’sbrother for her to figure it out, and that’s not whatIdeserve.

Insteadof answering her,Igive her a short nod and walk away silently, scooting into a nearby booth of my own with a smile at the waitress.

Shetakes my order for bacon and pancakes, then rushes over to another table before heading back to the cooks and handing over the orders she took.Whenthe bell above the front door jingles, my skin tingles as if the air is charged with electricity, andIsuck in a breath.Georgia’shere.

I’mtrying to look down at the table, to make sure she can’t see me, butIdon’t have any luck when a shadow casts over the table.Iglance up, my gaze falling intoGeorgia’sgreen eyes, andIcan’t deny the sympathyIfeel whenInotice the bags under her eyes.Asif she wasn’t able to sleep a wink last night.

Butisn’t that what she deserves?

Ishake the sympathetic feeling from my head and glare at her. “Ms.Flowers, good morning.”Shetries to come closer, butIhold a hand up exactly asIdid the night before. “I’llbe eating alone this morning.Enjoyyour breakfast.”ThenIlook down at the table and wait with bated breath for her to walk away from me.

Shedoesn’t try to convince me to let her sit down, but instead takes a deep breath before walking away and taking her own seat across the room from me.Whenthe waitress comes over to the table,Georgiaonly nods toward the coffee pot the woman holds and shakes her head.Iwatch as the waitress takes the menu from in front ofGeorgia, only leaving the kettle of coffee there for her.

No.

Itwould be stupid of me to walk over there right now, as if there’s nothing wrong with what she did.Nopart of me is going to forgive her as soon as she gets upset.Asmuch as she apologized to me last night,Ican’t trust that it was genuine at the moment.EvenifWinnieswears thatGeorgiafeels something for me, her actions last night have proven otherwise.

Iwon't be able to sit here whileGeorgiais only a room away, not whenIcan see her from here as she gazes out the window ahead of her, slowly sipping her coffee.Thewaitress rushes over whenIlift my hand, andIask for my food to go, before making my way over to the counter to wait for it.

Withone last glance inGeorgia’sdirection, her gaze crashes into mine and my heart stutters at the tears shining in her eyes.ButallImanage to do asIgrab my food from the counter is turn my head away from her and head out of the diner.Shehas to deal with this mess on her own.

Chapter15

Georgia

Thelast thingIexpected the night of the wedding was to realize where my feelings lied all along.Iwas so consumed in the wayIcrushed onCamdenall these years, thatInever bothered to look at who was right in front of me.Bishopoffered to be my date to the wedding without a second thought, and whenIflaunted him as my boyfriend toWinniehe went along with it.

He’salways been right there beside me, helping me through it all, listening to all my issues when we go out to eat, and has never once made me feel likeIwasn’t important to him.Theonly thingIregret more than anything is that it took spending a night withCamdento figure that out.

Iwas so sure of my feelings forCamdenthatInever stopped to think about the real reason whyIdidn’t feel complete when he kissed me or whenIlet him deep inside of me.ThefeelingsIwanted to feel forCamdenin those moments are the feelingsIfelt each timeIwas withBishop.I’vereplayed the kiss withBishopthe day before the wedding a hundred times, andI’mstill getting tingles from it.

I’vegone years having this crush on someone who couldn’t bother to notice me until he saw me with another man, and even then he didn’t really notice me.Meanwhile,Ihad another man by my side through two of those years who saw no onebutme andIwent and treated him exactly asCamdentreated me last night.

AllIwanted whenIwalked into the diner was to stew in my guilt and regret, thenIsawBishopsitting at one of the booths and hoped he would give me a chance to talk to him after sleeping everything off.Notthat he should forgive whatIdid,Ijust wanted to at least explain myself.Tryto at least, even if there doesn’t seem to be a good explanation for whatIdid.

Imessed with a good man’s emotions.Itdoesn’t matter ifIdidn’t know he liked me as more than a friend, it just matters thatIdid the shit in the first place.Nowthe only man who has ever noticed me hates me, andI’mnot sure how to get him to give me the chanceI’mready for.

Ifyou told me weeks ago thatI’dfind myself daydreaming about a life with my boss,Iwould’ve laughed in your face.Butnow thatIknow where my feelings lie, and who they lie with,I’dgladly shout it from the rooftops.I’mnot even sure whyItold him we couldn’t be anything more than business associates and friends.

Don’tlie to yourself,Georgia, you know exactly why you made him agree to nothing more.

Camden.

Forsome godforsaken reason,Icouldn’t take my mind offCamdenand the lifeIalways dreamed of for the two of us.Winnietexted me this morning, letting me know she rescheduled her flight for the honeymoon until tomorrow and thatI’mmore than welcome to go to her house today before they leave tomorrow.DoIwant to do that though?

Consideringhow closeCamdenand her are,Iwould hate to risk running into him whileI’mgoing there to spill my guts aboutBishop.Whatwould he think of that?I’mthe woman who used one man to get under another, nowI’mrunning to the second choice since my first one doesn’t want me.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com