Page 52 of I Met Him At The Library

A deep laugh rose out of me as a bright smile spread across her face. There was no doubt in my mind, I wasn’t simply falling for Emily. I had already fallen. Hard.

After dinner, we drove to the hotel before deciding to take a walk through downtown Fairwood. The town was nice - more populated than Maple Creek, and it lacked the charm. We passed two major coffee chains on our walk and plenty of nightlife, but there were only a few small private businesses on the strip.

As we walked and talked, I was captivated by the woman next to me. It was getting harder and harder to resist the temptation to go public with my feelings for her. I wanted her, but with everything so up in the air, she didn’t want to go public yet. She needed more time.

I tried desperately not to let my brain go to any bad places with this arrangement. Sometimes I would feel like she was hiding me as she waited for something better to come along or because I wasn’t good enough for her. Those feelings were old insecurities rearing their ugly heads, but sometimes it was hard to silence them.

“Emily?” A male voice came from in front of us.

Before turning my head to the voice, Emily’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. Turning, what stood before me was a good looking man whose shirt seemed to cling to his muscles and he was staring at my woman.

Chapter 30

Emily

The last person I expected to run into while we were in Fairwood was Nick. My six foot, muscular, contractor, ex-boyfriend who took off from town a couple years ago after his work was completed.

“Nick! Hi. What are you doing in Fairwood?” I asked with a smile.

“Oh, we’re starting a project here. There’s a new office and industrial complex going in and our company won the bid. I actually got into town today and was checking it out to see what all may have changed.”

“That’s great.”

Nick’s eyes darted between Ryan and I before he asked, “What about you?”

“Oh, um, this is Ryan. We’re in town to meet with some people from the local library for a book signing event the Maple Creek Library is doing in a few weeks.”

The lie felt unnatural, and I wanted to snatch it back as soon as the words escaped my mouth. However, I knew that Nick still spoke with people in town and I didn’t want the news of Ryan and me being found out through my ex. That just sounded like a disaster waiting to happen.

“Are you still doing freelance writing?”

“Yes, it’s going well.”

“Alright, I hate to cut this short, cause I’d love to catch up, but I’m meeting with some co-workers.”

“Right, good luck,” I said and we waved at each other before he walked past us.

Looking up at Ryan, he gave me a confused expression before we both began slowly walking again.

“So, who was Nick?” Ryan finally asked.

“He lived in Maple Creek for a little while, did some work on the vacation rentals and a bed-and-breakfast.”

“Oh.”

Squeezing my eyes closed for a second, I opened them and blurted out, “I kinda dated him while he lived in town. It wasn’t anything serious because I always knew he was going to leave.”

“Oh.”

“Is that it? Just ‘oh.’ Nothing else to say or ask?” I questioned, looking up at Ryan.

“Look, you say he wasn’t anything serious, and I believe you.”

“Yeah, but you seem … I don’t know, upset?”

“Not upset,” Ryan shrugged. “Moreso, awkward. Does any new boyfriend like meeting the ex-boyfriend?”

“No, I guess not.”

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