Page 87 of Tangled

His reply is almost instant.

Kane: Missed me that much already? It’s been less than forty-eight hours.

After I stayed at his place the night of Thanksgiving, I told Kane I needed a day or so to take care of some things I had been putting off until the break, like cleaning out my closet. But in reality, I didn’t trust myself around him until I knew for sure what our future held. The irony that I will now—in fact—haveto clean out my closet, is not lost on me.

Me: Always. Can you be here soon?

Kane: Leaving now. Gonna make a quick stop for food and then I’ll be there. See you soon.

Knowing I had a good forty-five minutes to an hour until Kane arrived, I mustered up enough energy to hop in the shower and wash off the grime of the day, tidy up my mess in the bathroom and hide the tests so I could show Kane when I was ready, and finish cleaning up my kitchen.

About thirty minutes later, I heard a knock at the door. I figured it was Kane, but if he’s this early, he must have been speeding. Ready to give him a good teasing, I open the door with a smirk, but the person standing on the other side makes my face fall flat in a second.

“Hi, Liv,” that voice that I swear would never utter my name again resonates in my ears as a wave of nausea hits me. It might be pregnancy symptoms, but more than likely, it’s from facing my ex for the first time in months since I caught him with his dick in someone else.

“Trevor, what are you doing here?” I shake my head as I watch his eyes bounce back and forth between mine.

“I wanted to see you,” he says, trying to sound sincere, but sounding more desperate.

“Really, it didn’t seem like I was a thought on your mind while you were fucking Lexi?” I cross my arms over my body like a protective shield. Even though I’m one-hundred percent over him, I don’t want him to think that I’m receptive to his groveling at all.

It’s why I never responded to his dozens of texts or missed calls. It’s why when he emailed me, I never thought twice about writing back. Because there was no way in hell I would give him another chance, let alone the opportunity to justify what he did.

“Why are you here?”

His head hangs low now between his shoulders as he takes a deep breath. “I fucked up.”

“Yeah, no shit,” I agree on a short breath. “Well, thanks for driving all this way to tell me that. Have a good night,” I move to shut the door in his face, but he stops me before I’m successful.

“Can we talk? Please?” He begs as his eyes find mine and I see pain there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Trevor look distraught about anything.

“How did you even find me?”

He peers up at me again and stands tall. “Your Facebook. Plus, after you left I figured you must have gone home.”

Fuck. Damn social media, always providing enough information to people when you don’t want it to.

“So you’re stalking me now? Pretty convenient given you had me near you every day for almost a year and didn’t care that much.”

“I’m not stalking you. Well, I kind of did for the past day or so. But I saw that you moved home and then you posted a picture of you and the girls with the apartment complex in the background. I waited around until I saw you so I knew which unit was yours.”

“Christ,” I roll my eyes. “Okay, so your stalker skills are up to par. What do you need Trevor?”

“Can I come in? I have a lot I need to say…” He’s pleading, and hell if it’s the pregnancy hormones or maybe just pity, but part of me can’t turn him away. I sigh. He must have something important to say if he traveled all this way. Maybe this break-up will help him see what a pig he is and he can vow to be less of an asshole pig for his next lady. Because no matter what he says, that won’t be me.

But Trevor was a part of my life for almost a year, a man I shared my life with and my bed with at one point. He must need someone to talk to, or at least my ears to hear his epiphany.

“Fine, but I’m expecting company, so you can’t be here long,” I open the door wider and motion him in, wondering how the hell this day could surprise me anymore.

Chapter 36

Kane

When Olivia’s text popped up on my phone, I felt relieved to know that she missed me as much as I missed her. It had been less than two days since I’d seen her, but after spending the holiday with her family, I had this urge to never let her go. She insisted she had some things she needed to get done before our break from school ended, so I relented and watched her drive home, feeling like a piece of me went with her.

My future is so clear now. The idea makes me laugh when I think about how differently I saw my life just a few months ago. I was sure being alone was what I wanted. I was sure there was no reason to open myself up to someone else again.

And then a fiery redhead turned my world upside down and flipped over everything I thought I knew. Heads was now tails, dark was now light, and life without Olivia was something I never wanted to experience.

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