Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“Um.”
“Um, nothing,” she retorts. “How did this happen?”
“How did what happen?” I ask not sure of her questions.
“How did you come to all of a sudden realize you are in love with Nate?” she asks me softly.
“Well, it’s technically all your fault,” I say with a smile, but the tears form at the bottom of my eyes. “You threw me at him and I was staying in his house.” She rolls her eyes. “And then one thing led to another, and we did grown-up things.” I put a hand to my mouth to stop myself from bursting out laughing.
“How much do you love him?” she questions, and I tilt my head to the side. “Do you love him so much that you are going to be okay stepping foot on that plane and leaving him, going back home to live without any regret.” She smiles and I see her own tears in her eyes. “Or do you love him so much that just the thought alone makes your heart ache? The thought of him being with someone else and creating a family with her makes you violently ill?”
“It makes me violently ill,” I admit in a whisper. “Just the thought of stepping on that plane makes me feel this immense pain in my chest that it’s hard to breathe.” I wipe the tear off of my cheek.
“Well,” she declares, picking up her cup of coffee, “it looks like you have a decision to make.”
CHAPTER 33
Nate
THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE IS
I look out the window at the trees in the distance. Sitting back in my chair with my feet on my desk, I rock back and forth. I don’t even know how. The knock at the door makes me look away from the window I’ve been staring out of for the last hour. “Nate.”
“Hey.” I lean back and look at Chloe, who comes in with Whiskey behind her. “I’m about to head out, so I thought I would make sure that Mr. Whiskey was with you.”
“Thank you,” I say as Whiskey walks over to his bed in the corner and plops down on it.
“How was the wedding?” Chloe asks me.
“Beautiful,” I tell her. “Everything went off without a hitch.”
“I’m sure Joshua was happy about that.” She laughs. “He was a bit of a mess the last time I saw him.”
“Good news is that he should be calmed down. They leave to go on their honeymoon on New Year’s Day.”
“That sounds like fun.” I nod at her as she lingers in my office. “Are you doing anything for New Year’s Eve?” she asks me and I shake my head.
“To be honest, I didn’t plan anything because of the wedding.” I fold my hands on my lap.
“If you want,” she suggests softly, “we could maybe catch dinner and a movie.”
Shit, this is about to get as awkward as it can be. “That sounds like fun,” I say with a smile, “but I’m going to have to pass. Us working together and everything, I would hate to get things crossed.” She looks down, trying to hide the rejection on her face.
“Of course, I get it.” She shrugs. “Thought I’d extend the offer.”
“Thank you for that,” I say. “Have a great night.” I cut the conversation before it gets more awkward.
“See you after the New Year, Nate.” She nods at me and turns to walk out of the office.
I look back out the window and all I can do is think about Elizabeth. The phone rings on my desk and I see it’s Jack, and I send it to voicemail. It doesn’t take much longer for him to text me.
Jack: Are you fucking screening your calls?
I laugh, knowing that he would know. He’s not only been one of my closest friends over the years, he’s been like a big brother I never had.
Me: Not screening per se.
I press send and the phone rings instead of him texting me back. I know if I don’t answer it, he’ll either come and find me or he’ll call Joshua, who will then call me or then get Zack. Needless to say, I can’t run away from it.
“Yo.” I put the phone to my ear.
“Yo yourself,” he says. “Where are you?”
“At the office. Why?”
“I just passed by the house to see you and you aren’t there.”
“I am not,” I confirm. “I came in to make sure everything was okay,” I explain, even though the minute I got in, I sat in this chair and didn’t do anything. My head was whirling after Elizabeth left.
“Funny.” I hear the car door close on his end. “I was doing the same.”
“You were checking to see how my clinic was going?” I ask him, trying to get him to divert from the real conversation he wants to have.
“Funny,” he repeats, not biting, “I was coming to see how you were doing.” His voice trails off as he starts his car. “You seemed out of it last night at dinner.”