Page 37 of Tangling Hearts

Chapter Twenty-Four

Brendan

Waking Up To Hear Someone You Just Fucked, Crying In Another Room, Is Never Good.

Wait, is she talking to someone? She just said something… I listen more, but quiet weeping is all that’s coming from her living room now. What the fuck is going on?

Carefully rising up out of her bed, I slip on my jeans and walk out to find her in her purple, silk robe, lying in the fetal position on the couch, phone clutched in her hand, crying.

“Hey.”

She sits up, quickly wiping her eyes. “Oh! Hi! Did I wake you?”

I look at her phone; see that it’s off. “It’s six in the morning. Were you talking to your parents? Everything okay?”

Annie wipes her red nose and hesitates. “No….I mean, yes! Everything’s okay. It wasn’t my parents. I was talking to my ex.”

An icy feeling makes me shift my weight. “I see.” I turn and start for the bedroom to get my things, but stop myself, thinking, this can’t be what I think it is. Calm the fuck down, Brendan. Ask her what’s up. I turn around, licking my lips to get ready for putting myself out there. She looks just as lost as I feel. “I’m just going to ask – what are you doing calling your ex when I’m sleeping in your bed? Your timing couldn’t be worse.”

She bursts into a fresh set of tears, covering her face with her hands and sobbing, the phone clutched in one small hand, smooshing her nose. I’m completely confused and my hand is up in the air like it has a question to ask. I don’t want to yell at her, because I don’t know what to yell. I need coffee for something like this. It’s six o’clock in the fucking morning on a Saturday.

Finally, she says through her fingers, “I told you I had to tell him about you. I told him. I told him it’s over and I really hurt him. I never wanted to hurt him.”

I blink a few times, wondering what to say to that. “You’re crying because you still want to be with him?”

Her hands fly down and she shakes her head. “No! I’m crying because I hurt someone I care about, Brendan. This is hard!”

“Okay. Okay, look. I wish I could say I understand, but I don’t. But I haven’t broken it off with someone I loved before. I don’t think I’ve ever done that, actually. So I’m having a hard time understanding this. Are you sure you don’t want to be with this guy?”

Exasperated, she stands up. “No! I don’t want to! I want to be with you!” Raking her hands through her hair, her face all wet and flushed, she paces back and forth. Her tear-filled blue eyes rise up and lock on me, the rawness vibrant on her face. “Let me explain, and this is just so you understand, since you’ve never been here. Okay?” She waits for me to nod.

“Okay. I’m listening.”

She breathes in deeply. “He was there for me when no one else was. When I had no friends, NONE, that man saw something in me and took me into his home and became my best friend. I grew up in his care.”

A tidal wave of jealousy whips through me, and my eyes steel. But I keep my trap shut.

She waits, seeing if I can handle this. I nod again and she continues, “He never treated me badly. I have the bar now, because he wouldn’t accept my money. I worked at a bar his friend owned – a job he got for me – and that’s where I learned everything I know.” She looks at her phone like he’s in it. “But I had to tell him about you because you told Rebecca goodbye, and you told me you don’t want me touching anyone. Not that I was going to touch him! Don’t worry! But I had to tell him, so he didn’t hope.” Her hands fly to her face as fresh tears fall. “Do you know how awful it feels to kill someone’s hope?”

I go to her, taking her into my arms. She pushes off me slightly so as not to press against my ribs, lays her head on my chest, her shoulders shaking. “Look, Annie, I haven’t been where you are. But what you just said, there isn’t a human being worth his weight who wouldn’t be moved by that. Your ex… Christiano, isn’t it?” She nods. “Well, he’s a lucky guy to have someone care as much as you do. I hope you come to care for me that much.”

She looks up at me, the redness making the blue shockingly brighter in her eyes. “That’s a really sweet thing to say.”

I search her for the truth. “You really don’t want to be with him?”

She laughs at my stubbornness, shaking her head. “I want to be with you, Brendan. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Yeah. I’m just working through some things.” I kiss her nose. “I’m not normally the boyfriend type. But I want to be yours.” A tear falls down her cheek as she looks at me. I catch it with my finger. “This one’s mine. He can have the others.” She smiles, making a small sound. “Let’s go back to bed, Freckles. Mr. Donovan doesn’t have to be let in until nine.”

I put my arm around her and she trudges beside me back to the bedroom. As we pass a small table under a framed poster of Tuscany, I glance at it as she lays down her phone. “That’s pretty. Ever been there?”

“Um… yeah. You?”

“Not yet.” I hold open the bedroom door for her and watch her slip her robe off, the beautiful curve of her back coming into view. “Why’d you have to call him so early on a Saturday? Did you wake up thinking about it or something?”

“He texted while we were sleeping. He has weird hours, so I had to catch him when I could. Can we stop talking about it? I just want to sleep. I’m sorry I woke you up with all this.” She looks at me as she climbs in the bed, but looks away as I pull my jeans off, which is odd. I’m pushing my luck with these questions, aren’t I?

“Yeah, sure. We don’t have to talk about it. I’m glad you told him.”

She lays her head on the pillow, closing her eyes. After a couple seconds, she whispers, “Sometimes it’s really hard to be honest.”

Lifting up the blanket, I climb in. “Yeah, but the other option sucks.”

She nods, and one more tear sneaks out and falls to her pillowcase. I pretend like I didn’t see it.

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