Page 38 of Perfect Score

Not setting a wedding date after only being engaged for six months is hardly a reason to assume that their relationship isn’t sturdy, though I wish it gave me some hope.

I hear the door down the hallway open, and then I hear a woman's voice—Shelby's.

“Liam?”

She must have heard us out here and I hate how instantly my stonge pangs with the feeling of being the other woman.

“Yeah?” he says over his shoulder but doesn’t look back—his eyes still locked on mine.

“I thought you were just getting ice?” she says.

With the elevators offset from the hallway, she can’t see us standing here.

“The ice machine is out of order. I’ll be right there,” he says.

And just like that, Liam is returning to her. A small realization hits me, and I wonder what excuses he made to me so he could steal moments with her. I think about how many times I’d call, and he’d be at the coffee shop in the morning even though I know that he made coffee before he left for work.

I just assumed since he worked so much that he needed double the caffeine in the morning but now I know that it was her he needed more of. My heart sinks at the thought of it.

I won’t be the other woman that Liam tries to sneak moments with.

If he wants me, he needs to prove it and end things with her.

“Okay,” she says hesitantly.

Then we both wait, listening for the door to close.

Maybe I should feel guilty for wanting their relationship to end but I spent over ten years with Liam. We had a life together before her. As toxic as it sounds, he was mine first, and as much pain as he has caused me, I still want the life we had planned.

I feel like I’m floating through space ever since he broke it off. I don’t know who I am without him.

Does that make me weak?

Everyone else in my world seems to have their lives together. Phoebe is a killer at the advertising agency that she works for, David is the head project manager for Liam’s father’s firm, Liam became VP last year, and Brent is a superstar with fans swarming him wherever we go.

My photography business is my dream. I love what I do, and I wouldn’t change that for anything. But I still feel like there’s something I’m missing.

“I should go. I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Zoey. You still mean a lot to me.”

He sets his hand gently on my arm, and the feeling of his hand on my body is like muscle memory. I’d know his touch even if I was blindfolded.

“You still mean a lot to me too," I tell him, disappointment setting in that nothing has changed.

He smiles.

“I’ll walk you to your room,” he offers.

I should say no.

I should ask him to take his hand off me.

I should make him realize that he doesn’t get to be close to me if he’s going to stay with Shelby.

But I guess it turns out that I am weak because I don’t say anything. I just take a step towards the hallway, and he follows my lead, taking step for step with me.

We pass by their room, but he doesn’t even look over and acknowledge it.

We get to the very end of the hallway where the honeymoon suite is and then I open my black leather clutch and pull out my card key.

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