For the next two hours, my eyes were glued on the screen. I loved the movie, but it was more than that. It had been so long since I’d been out without Amelia. I loved her with all of my heart, but sometimes, I just needed a break.
I caught Joey glancing at me a few times, but he never spoke. I waited for him to hold my hand that I’d placed on the armrest between us, but he never did. I wasn’t sure if he just hadn’t noticed it there or if he was unsure about whether or not he should. Things were so unsteady between us. He was probably just as afraid as I was of messing things up even more.
When the movie let out, we tossed our empty drink and popcorn containers into the garbage and headed back out to the parking lot.
“That was fun,” I said when we reached the car.
“Yeah, it was. I’m glad I decided to bring you here. It was nice to just get away for a while.”
Joey unlocked the car, and we both climbed inside. I fastened my seat belt before turning my attention to the theater again. I watched as couples came out together, and others went in. I noticed a guy and a girl standing a few parking rows away from us. The guy’s back was facing me, but he looked familiar, so I studied him closer. He turned enough so that I could see the side of his face.
Instantly, I realized it was Ethan. I subconsciously glanced over at Joey to see if he was paying attention to Ethan, but he wasn’t. Why would he? Joey had no idea who Ethan was or that he even existed.
I looked back at Ethan and the girl just in time to see her wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. It wasn’t a chaste peck on the lips either. She hungrily kissed him, as if she couldn’t get enough.
My eyes widened in shock as I watched them. A fire suddenly burned bright inside of me, lighting my entire body up. Heat flooded my veins, and I felt an anger so strong that it left me speechless. Jealousy, rage, hate, despair—all of these emotions flashed through me. I felt as if I were drowning in them.
The girl pulled away from Ethan, and they continued walking to the theater, neither of them even glancing in my direction. They had no idea what had just occurred within me. They were completely clueless to the revelation I was currently drowning in. Seeing Ethan with that girl, watching her kiss him, had finally broken through whatever shield I’d subconsciously put up.
I cared about Ethan. I’d known that much years ago, but after we’d reunited, it had grown stronger. I’d felt some kind of emotion the day he told me about the girl and then later when we’d talked about her at work, but I hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly what I was feeling.
Now, I knew.
I was falling in love with Ethan—no, I wasn’t falling. I was already there. In a few short weeks, I’d grown to love a man who most definitely wasn’t my husband.
Shame flooded me as I tried to sort through the emotions plaguing me.
Oh God, why did I have to realize this now with Joey sitting in the car next to me?
I needed time to sort through this and push it away, and I couldn’t do that with Joey around me.
“Caley? Hello? Earth to Caley. Anyone in there?” Joey’s voice snapped me out of my stupor.
I turned to him, praying that my expression didn’t show even a sliver of what I was feeling inside.
“I’m sorry. What?” I managed to get out, but my voice sounded wrong.
He gave me a strange look. “I asked, where do you want to eat? But you look like you’re going to be sick. Are you okay?”
I shook my head. “I think I need to go home.”
There was no way I could sit across from him while we ate, knowing what I had just realized.
“Sure.” He was still watching me, probably expecting me to hurl in his car.
I secretly feared that I would do just that.
My second date with Danielle was almost as boring as the first.
Our first date had been nothing more than grabbing dinner together. I’d spent the entire time listening to Danielle talk about herself. She worked at a local diner at night while attending classes at the local university during the day. She wanted to be a nurse, maybe even a doctor. I admired her ambition and had even praised her for taking such difficult classes and working at the same time, but after hearing every single detail about her classes and job, I’d wanted to stab myself in the hand just to escape her. She’d asked about my jobs but seemed as if she wasn’t really interested in them. The girl couldn’t tell a flat-head screwdriver from a wrench even if I’d labeled them for her.
We’d switched topics to our hobbies. Once again, I’d found myself bored out of my skull. We couldn’t even agree on music. She preferred country, something I despised. When I’d told her I loved rock music, she wrinkled her nose but didn’t comment.
Needless to say, we had pretty much nothing in common.
We’d parted ways in the parking lot, and I’d assumed that would be the end of it. She was a nice girl, but even she had to know that we were two completely different people.
Imagine my surprise when she’d texted me on Saturday morning just as my shift was about to end, asking if I wanted to hang out that afternoon. I’d stuffed my phone in my pocket with absolutely no plans to text her back. I’d hoped she’d take the hint and let it go.
It wasn’t that Danielle wasn’t a pretty girl because she was. Her hair was dark brown and long enough that it fell below her ribs. Her eyes were bright blue. Her nose was a little too big for her face though, and it appeared larger than it actually was next to her small lips. Like I’d said, she was pretty, but I wasn’t interested in her. Maybe if she’d come into my life before Caley, I might have felt differently.
Once I’d helped the guys, who were still being dicks, lock up the shop, I’d walked out to the counter to see if Caley wanted to spend the afternoon together. She’d told me no instantly. Apparently, Joey had been expecting her home as soon as she left work. She’d seemed nervous about it. When I had asked why, she’d explained about their late-night phone call and how she’d thought that Joey would want to talk to her about their marriage.
In my mind, I had known without a doubt that he would say or do anything to keep Caley with him. That was what today would be all about—soothing Caley so that she wouldn’t go off the deep end and do something crazy, like leave his stupid ass. He might treat her like shit, but he knew he was a lucky bastard to have her.
With that thought in mind, I had pulled my phone out of my pocket as soon as I reached my car, and I’d texted Danielle back, letting her know I would be down to spend some time together.
That was how I’d ended up at her dorm an hour later, picking her up for our second date. I’d hoped I wouldn’t fall asleep while she was around.
I’d decided to take her to the movies. I’d figured it would be my best bet. I wouldn’t have to talk to her for at least two hours, and, hell, I might even enjoy the movie.
“I’m really excited to be here with you,” Danielle said as we pulled into the theater parking lot.
“I’m, uh, glad to be here with you, too,” I lied.
We climbed out of the car and started moving toward the theater together. I was surprised when she grabbed my arm to stop me from walking.
I turned to her and gave her a questioning look. “What is it?”
She shifted nervously for a moment. I was about to ask her what was wrong when she suddenly sprang herself at me. Taken aback, I grabbed her waist as she crashed into me. Her lips landed on mine before I could process what was happening. She fiercely kissed me, surprising me. She hadn’t hit me as the spontaneous type of girl. Unsure of what to do, I held her waist as she kissed me. When she pulled away, she was breathing heavily, her eyes glazed over.