Page 52 of Expiry Dating

“I answered your door, and, um ... it was a woman, and I guess she wasn’t expecting to find me here.”

Brady’s heart stopped. There was only one woman who would be here. His woman. “Long, wavy brown hair, blue eyes, pretty little thing?”

His neighbour nodded and offered up a pained expression. “Sorry, Brady. She ran off before I could explain.”

He was on the move before she finished speaking. His heart was beating again now but way too fast for his liking. After rummaging around in a few drawers, he found a spare key and threw it in Laura’s direction. “Lock up when you leave, yeah?” He didn’t wait for a reply. Within seconds, he was out the door and in his truck.

He spent the whole drive to Alice’s praying she was there and she would hear him out. They’d come so far over the past few weeks. Everything had changed. Alice was no longer pulling away. He could swear her feelings were just as strong as his were.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what she must have thought when Laura opened his door. A part of him was disappointed she thought the worst, but then the other part understood. After all, she’d only ever experienced the worst.

When he knocked on her cabin door, his hands were shaking from all the adrenaline coursing through him.

“Open up, Ali. I know you’re in there.”

A muffled “go away” came through the wood. He kept pounding, there was no way he was going to let it end this way. They were both in too deep and cared too much for something so trivial to come along and tear them apart.

Five minutes of relentless knocking later, his hand was aching, but he wasn’t giving up. He’d stay out there all night if he had to.

“Brady.” The door creaked open just enough to reveal Alice’s puffy face. Her eyes were red from crying, and it was the first time he’d ever seen her look fragile. It broke his heart to know that he was the one who’d done this to her. “Please go.”

“Please hear me out, Ali. It’s not what you think.”

A sarcastic “original” came out of her swollen lips before she tried to close the door on him. Luckily, he placed his foot out just in time to halt her.

“Don’t. Don’t compare me to your ex or any other prick stupid enough to let you go.”

A moment later, the door was pulled back and she emerged, fiery sapphire eyes blazing. “You’re right, you’re not like them. You made me believe that this was different. We were different. You know why I was at your house tonight, Brady? I was there ’cos I missed you. You were all I was thinking about all night. God, I’m so fucking stupid.”

She missed me. I was all she was thinking about.

He resisted the urge to pull her into his arms, fully aware he’d take a punch if he tried. “You really think I’d cheat on you, Ali? After all this time, that’s the kind of guy you think I am?”

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t count it as cheating if we were never really together.”

“Bullshit. If we were never fucking together you wouldn’t be crying right now.”

“I’m not crying! Fuck you!” She tried again to close the door, this time he pushed past her and took a place inside the cabin entrance. “Get out!” Even through the anger and her attempt to put on a brave face, he could feel the sadness and devastation rolling off her.

No longer able to stop himself from touching her, he took a step toward her and cupped her face. “Ali, sweetness, please,” he begged as he watched those beautiful blue eyes swell. “The woman at my house tonight, she’s my neighbour, Laura. She stopped by with her husband, Drake, to borrow a generator ’cause their power went out. I was out back with Drake when you came by. I’ve told you a million times and I’ll tell you a million more, I only want you, Ali. Only you.”

A solitary tear ran down her cheek, which he quickly caught with his thumb.

“It doesn’t matter,” she whispered. “Tonight just proved what I already knew. I can’t be with you, Brady. I can’t do this. We’ve blurred too many lines. I can’t see straight anymore.”

The blow hit him hard. His stomach twisted, and for a moment he felt as if someone had ripped out his insides. “You really think I would hurt you, Ali? You think I’m capable of cheating on you, lying to you?”

She pulled away from his hold, a look of defiance plastered across her features. “Yes, Brady, I do. Is that what you want to hear? I can’t fucking do this. When that woman opened your door tonight, it broke my fucking heart. I can’t—”

He crowded her against the wall, the shock cutting her sentence off completely. He lifted her chin and waited until their gazes were intertwined. “Wanna know why I could never do that to you, Ali? ’Cause I fucking love you.” Their breathing became more laboured, but she didn’t reply. “Did you hear me, Ali? I love you. I’ve fallen in love with you. So believe me when I say there is no one else. I don’t want anyone else, damn it. You’re it for me.”

Panic flared in those pretty eyes, and he knew she was getting ready to run.

Goddamnit.

She was the only woman he’d ever said those words to, and her silence was killing him. It wasn’t supposed to go like this. It sure as hell shouldn’t hurt like this.

Seconds later she was out of his hold and out the door, leaving him wondering if he’d ever be the same again.

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