Page 45 of Pulled Away

“I suppose it doesn’t.” He’s silent for a beat. “Ryan has always felt responsible for Hadley’s happiness.”

“And in the process, he gave up mine. I drew a line in the sand and he stepped over it.”

No, leaped over it without taking a second to consider my feelings. “Her happiness is more important to him than mine,” I murmur, the thought given words bitter as they leave my mouth.

“I don’t think he sees it that way.”

“It doesn’t matter how he sees it.” I shrug. “He had a choice, and he made it.”

My phone buzzes, and we both glance to where it’s vibrating on the table, Ryan’s name on the screen. I keep my hands in my lap, staring at it like it’s a coiled snake, ready to strike.

“Are you going to get that?”

I shake my head, and eventually it stops ringing, only to start right back up again. Carter reaches for it, and I give him a look that could strip paint from a newly painted wall.

“Don’t you dare.”

He holds up his hands before dropping them back to the table and folding them together. “Normally I’m the one that fucks things up, but he really fucked this up, didn’t he?”

“Would you stick with a girl that took her ex-husband on an island getaway?” I manage through the lump in my throat.

His eyes give me my answer, and I grab my phone, stuffing it back in my bag.

“Can you cook?” he asks, his expression serious.

“What?”

“Can you cook?” He grins. “You know that magical thing that happens in a kitchen where you take a whole lot of nothings and make a something?”

“Yes?”

“Then I have a proposal for you.”

“Okay…”

Leaning back in my chair, I eye him warily.

“So, with all this,” he gestures vaguely, “I’m guessing you’ll be looking for a place to stay?”

My nod is less than enthusiastic because, yeah, looking isn’t the issue. Paying is.

He leans forward, crossing his arms on the table. “Move in with me. I have an extra room. A room you can use till you get back on your feet.”

Frowning, I look down, considering what to say. “Why would you do that?”

“What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?”

Immediately I want to scream, yes, let’s go because the idea of having to sleep in my car holds zero appeal, but I take a few seconds to mull it over in my head.

“Wouldn’t that cause trouble between you and Ryan?”

Ryan and I aren’t married, so there are no possessions we need to split, but we both came into this relationship with friends that became mutual friends over time. There are bound to be some casualties, and I thought Carter would be one of them. It was just another arrow to my heart.

“It might. Not because you’ll be staying with me, but because you won’t be staying with him. The way I see it, he dropped the ball, and when he finally pulls his head from his ass, he’ll be thankful for it.”

“I don’t know…” I trail off, my thoughts clouded with doubt.

“Before you start thinking of me as being all kinds of altruistic and shit, I do have an ulterior motive.”

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