Page 39 of Unraveled

I sighed and looked at Izzy for the first time since I’d begun. “I should’ve just asked my dad for a loan on the ring, but I was a stupid git. A fool,” I clarified at her expression.

She tried to smile, but it was weak and turned out more like a grimace. Which fit perfectly.

“My friend Enzo and I, we’d been best mates since our first year of school, but we didn’t knock about nearly as often after we went off to uni. We used to always get into mischief.” I smiled, remembering. “The headmaster was on a first name basis with us. It never interfered withmymarks, but Enzo’s tended to slip without an earful to make him focus. I got into Oxford. He didn’t. We still talked all the time, but our schools were too far away to see each other anytime other than the holidays when he made trips back home.

“When he finished school, he was looking to move back to London to find work. Mark and I weren’t bringing in enough income yet to be willing to take Enzo on, too.Both of us had things we were saving for, so I mentioned it to my dad, and he managed to find Enzo a paid advertising internship with his company.

“Anna even agreed to let him stay with us until he got on his feet. He didn’t exactly have immediate funds to dive right into his own flat, and we had the extra room. It made sense. At the time, at least, but it lasted longer than it should have. It was just that we all enjoyed living together. Some of us more than others, apparently.” My teeth ground together, anger twisting in my stomach at how naive I’d been. I took a steadying breath.

“I was ecstatic to have my friend back. We’d spent three years without any of our old antics, aside from some nights at the pub over the hols, but there wasn’t a lot of time for that, even with him living under the same roof. Our buyer was getting impatient, and Mark and I only had a few months left to perfect that coding if I was going to propose to Anna on our anniversary.

“I wasn’t worried, though. I had felt guilty before, not spending as much time with Anna as I used to, but it was all for her. And Enzo was around now. They’d really seemed to hit it off. They got on like they’d known each other their whole lives.

“It had felt brilliant at the time. I mean, how could I be any luckier? I had this intelligent, beautiful, perfect woman I was in love with, my lifelong, best mate back in my life, and a job and business I loved.

“Enzo really was a great friend. He stuck by my side and helped me pull through when my mum died… Liquor and I became a little too friendly for a while there. There are many days and nights and stupid mistakes I don’t remember from that time because of it, but he got mepast that. I never drink to kill the pain anymore. It’s too easy to abuse it if I do,” I eased in the admission, knowing at least one person here should know. Izzy just looked at me, no judgment, waiting for me to continue.

“Our friendship was exactly why I never even thought to suspect… I was a right tosser to not see that Enzo wanted her.” My fingers gripped the ring tighter. Hating it but not able to let it go. Breathing through the ball of lead in my stomach, I closed my eyes and let the memory take over.

“Our anniversary was early December, and I remember thinking how perfect it was that it was snowing when I stepped out of class that afternoon. Anna loved a fresh coat of snow. She said it made everything look bright and romantic, and I knew she was going to be in a brilliant mood when I got home because of it. It just made me even more anxious to start our evening.

“I hurried home, constantly checking to feel the satin box in my coat pocket to make sure the ring was still there. I’d gone ahead and taken a line of credit for the ring. Mark and I finally had our software at a point ready to sell, and it would go through by New Year’s. It seemed foolish to postpone the proposal over a few short weeks.

“Anna was barefoot in her dress, singing to herself while styling her hair when I got home. She had it in a ponytail again, and she’d curled the strands, leaving a few locks in loose waves around her face. She smiled at me in the mirror, and I almost knelt down right there, she was so beautiful.

“But I didn’t. I had reserved a special table for us that evening at our favorite restaurant, and with the snow still gently falling, I knew the view would be perfect there.

“Both our spirits were high when we left that evening, and Anna only looked more beautiful as the night went on. Her eyes were a light, crisp green and her cheeks slightly pink from the chill in the air. She was vibrant in the view I had chosen.

“The longer we were at dinner, the more I realized she should be asked out in that snow. We laughed and talked throughout the meal, but by the end of dessert, her mood had begun to deflate, and I realized she was hoping I would propose, and I was probably taking too long.

“I don’t know why I hadn’t realized it before, but it also made me glad that I had worked so hard to beableto ask her. That sale was going to be enough and then some,extravagantlythen some, to give her everything she deserved.

“Just as I was paying the bill so we could head outside and get to the part of the evening we were both dying for, Mark rang. Anna grew tense, but she insisted I answer it.”

I shook my head, my gaze off in the distance I no longer saw. “I should have turned the bloody thing off. That’s what a man who puts his woman first would have done, but I knew Mark wouldn’t call on our anniversary over nothing.

“It was about our buyer. They were insisting we meetthat night, promising to make it worth our while. Mark insisted that I beg off; he’d handle it. He’d just wanted to let me know. But the pull to be there was strong. That project was my baby, too.

“I watched something die in Anna’s expression when she heard I was going, but I brushed it off. She was disappointed. Which I understood. But I was doing thisfor her. For us. I wanted to give her everything more than anything.

“I took her home and promised her that I would hurry back as quickly as I could, insisting we would still have a special evening. I still needed to ask her, but I refused to ask and then immediately leave.

My voice shook, angry and disappointed in myself. I could see it all so clearly now, so why couldn’t I see it then? Anna had just wanted me there. She’d needed me to choose her over work, and I’d let her down.

“The meeting was a let down, the buyer suddenly proposing ridiculous demands and trying to cut us on the price when we told them we couldn’t deliver the changes by the date they wanted. I left that meeting regretting that I had gone. If I’d stayed with Anna, we’d be celebrating by then.

“Knowing she was upset, I stopped for some tulips, her favorite, but I was surprised to see Enzo when I got home. He’d promised to stay out late that evening to give us some privacy.

“He was sitting on one end of the sofa, staring off into the warm glow of the fireplace when I walked in. Anna was wrapped in a blanket, lying across the couch with her feet in his lap. He motioned for me to be quiet and waved me over.

“I approached quietly, not wanting to wake Anna. She looked like an angel lying there with the light from the fire flickering across her face. But I could see the sadness in her expression, even in her sleep, and I felt awful.

“Enzo whispered to me that he’d tried to stay out later, but he hadn’t been feeling well. He’d come home for some medicine and planned to head to bed before we gothome, but he found Anna crying. He’d sat up and talked with her while she’d waited for me, and she’d eventually fallen asleep. He was worried that moving would wake her up.

“I’ll admit it seemed a little off at the time, but his explanation made sense, and I’d known Anna had been upset. So, I thanked him for helping and carried her off to bed. She’d sighed and nestled into my shoulder…”

My chest felt like it might tear right open, remembering how good that had felt. I’d planned to carry her off to bed the next time we made love. If only I’d known what she’d been thinking that night before I’d come home.

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