I nod into his chest and then step back letting his hands fall. “She wants me to take Matty.”
His eyes drop and then they meet mine. He’s not upset, or panicked. Those blue eyes are easy as the sky on a clear summer day. “I’ll help you. Chrissy and Dex will. Hell, I’m sure everyone will help us out. It’s temporary, we can do it.”
It’s so cute the way he says we and I believe he really believes that. But one month to forever changes a relationship that just budded. “No.” I shake my head. “For good.”
Shock hits his face and his head rears back. “Oh, man.” He runs his hand through his hair. “What did you say?”
“I told her to think about it.” I stare at his chest, my fingers playing with his shirt to distract me from his unsure eyes. “I’ll have to move, get an apartment. I’m going to have to ask my dad—”I stop myself before trust fund slips out, but the thought of asking my dad to sign it over, is a punch in the face. If he doesn’t, what do I do then?
“Hey.” He places his hands on my cheeks and forces my head up. “Your mind is working overtime. Let’s go and get a coffee and talk this out, okay?”
I nod, unable to truly form words. He leads me down the hallway, following the signs to the cafeteria. “Can you message Chrissy and ask her if she has Matty yet?” The kid just became an orphan and doesn’t even know it yet.
“Yeah.”
The elevator dings and the doors open. I can hear the clanking of silverware and trays before we arrive in the cafeteria. Rob’s staring down at his phone, his fingers flying across the screen. As soon as we step through the archway, an uneasiness comes over me. Scratching off the repercussions from talking with my mom, I locate the coffee area and weave my way through the early-morning rush. Rob travels behind me, and when I stop at the coffee, I’m waiting in line.
“He’s there and Dex is playing basketball in the driveway with him. She said he’s doing great.”
“Thank you.” His hands land on my shoulders and he kisses the top of my head. Flutters spur in my stomach with his intimate touch.
“Always,” he whispers and then his phone dings again.
I grab a cup and press the button for the coffee. I squeeze close to the girl next to me and reach across her. “Sorry.” She smiles.
“Close quarters.”
“Yeah.” I press the lid down on my cup and call over my shoulder. “Rob, do you want a coffee?” I ask since he’s texting away to Chrissy. Most likely filling her in on the situation.
“Yeah, babe.” He tucks the phone in his pocket and grabs a cup. “I got it.”
“Rob?” The girl next to me asks with a shaky voice and then hot liquid spills all over the counter.
I keep my eyes on Rob. He picks up his head and his face pales as though he’s staring at a ghost. For some reason, I know who she is without seeing her face. “Carly?” Rob questions and my stomach plummets.
MY EYES ARE messing with me, right? No way she’s right there next to my girlfriend. This is some ultra-universe. It has to be a fucking movie, and only anger spurs inside of me. My life is finally on track and damn if she’s going to come back and screw it up.
Paige slowly circles around and comes face to face with my first love. She grabs some napkins to clean the mess while Carly and I stare at one another in sheer shock.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Carly says, helping Paige clean up the mess, and I dump the coffee in the trash can. Unless there’s a bar here I don’t know about, nothing is about to calm my nerves in this moment.
The mess gets cleaned up and I grab Paige’s coffee. Her eyes flick to mine, silently asking me what I’m about to do. I’m going to do exactly what Carly did to me seven years ago. “Let’s go, Paige.”
I motion with my head and Paige steps forward, staring back at Carly. The people around us must sense the tension in the air. It’s stifling.
“Rob,” Carly queries, leaning forward but I beeline to the cashier.
When someone tugs on my elbow, I ignore it. I place the coffee on the counter and the cashier rings me up. I hand the coffee to Paige without a glance back and flee to the tables.
Paige follows me and sits down. “You can’t just ignore her.” She leans into me, her hand on my leg. How can this not scare the shit out of her? If it was some old boyfriend she anticipated riding in the sunset with once upon a time, I’d be running us out of here.
“Why, she ignored me?”
My eyes scan the cafeteria, wondering if others are with her. Right as I get by the door, a pair of green eyes align with mine. Xavier. Right next to him is Nora and then their mother. My eyes close as she finds me across the cafeteria. They still have the capability to make me want to disappear.
“Do you want to go?” Paige whispers in my ear and I shake my head. The asshole is right at the edge, about to rear its ugly head and I can’t do that to Paige right now. I just told her I love her, her mother threw her a curveball with Matty. She deserves so much more than I’m giving her in this moment.
“No.” I focus on her. “I’m fine. They are nothing to me.”
“That’s not true and you know it.” I should have known she would fight me. “Let’s go talk to them.”
“How can you be pushing this issue right now?”
“Because you have to face it.”
“No, I don’t.” I stand up and slam the chair into the table, making the coffee spill over.
Paige picks it up and a cleaning lady comes by to mop it up. “Thank you,” Paige tells her and I hear her footsteps behind me.
Using the door on the other side of the room, I thrust it open and the light from the outside is calling for me. The fresh air hits my lungs. I suck in a breath, and then bend at my waist to gain some balance of breathing in and out. Yanking at the strands of my black hair, I bolt.
I need to escape and gain as much distance as I can away from them. Paige follows me until the balcony cages me in, forcing me to turn around. She doesn’t stop until her body is flush against mine. Her hands grab each side of my head and she stares up at me. There’s nothing but love in her eyes, nothing but you’re my hero. She’s amazing and what’s about to happen is going to fuck this up between us.
“It’s okay. Talk to me,” she pleads and I want to grab her and fly up into the sky like Superman. She’s got enough on her plate without me adding a side of my troubled past to it.
“We’re just going to move on.” Just then Nora and Carly emerge around the corner and begin approaching us slowly. “Fuck. Tell them to leave before I go ape shit.”
Paige twists around and then faces me again. “Just talk.” Right when they get close, I slam my lips onto Paige’s and insert my tongue forcefully into her mouth. She slaps my chest and when I break the kiss she’s pushes off me. “Don’t.” Her authoritative voice grabs my attention. “Don’t use me as some ploy to make her jealous. It only devalues me.” She steps back and I close my eyes. Paige has always seen the good and bad inside of me.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble. My eyes glued to Carly.
“I know.” She places her hand in mine and I squeeze it.
“Hi.” Nora speaks first and her eyes focus more on Paige than me. “Paige, right?” Paige nods. “This is my sister, Carly.”
Carly’s eyes leave mine and look to Paige. “Hi.” She holds her hand out and Paige shakes it.
“Hi.” Paige is too polite, what the hell? Maybe she doesn’t love me; I don’t forget she never told me back.
“Hi, Rob.” Carly faces me and my throat dries.
“Carly . . . Nora.” There I did it. Is Paige happy now?