Page 41 of Wish You Once More
Bree sighed.
“Are you okay?” I asked, concerned. It hadn’t been my intention to end up in bed with her, but I couldn’t deny it felt good. I hoped she agreed.
“This was… unexpected,” she breathed. “Like we’ve never been apart.”
I kissed her temple, like I used to when we were together. Affectionate, meaningful,everything.
“Regrets?”
She wound the blue streak in her hair around her finger, chewing the inside of her cheek. “No,” she hesitated. “Not right now.”
But maybe laterwere the words she left unspoken.
20
Bree
Mat enveloped me in his arms, snuggling closer to my naked body. He whispered something in my ear I didn’t catch, and I murmured a response. A smile spread across my face as I woke from my slumber and opened my eyes.
The bed next to me was empty.
I slid a hand across the sheets, the cool cotton stinging my fingertips.
Clutching the duvet to my chest, I sat up and looked around the room. There was no sign of Mat. His clothes were gone. Any evidence there had been someone else there overnight had disappeared. A quick sweep of the room showed no note. I reached for my phone, which had somehow ended up under my bed. There were messages from Callie and Harry, but nothing from him.
I waited a few minutes, in case he’d gone to the bathroom. But as five stretched into ten, then into fifteen, it was evident he wasn’t coming back any time soon.
Throwing back the duvet, I grabbed some underwear and pulled it on, before finding a clean pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt. As I opened the bedroom door, I could hear the television. Someone was here.
Curled up on the sofa, a towel wrapped around her head but otherwise fully dressed for work, was Callie. The moment I stepped into the room, her eyes lit up.
“Did I seriously see Mat Redmond tiptoeing out of here at five o’clock this morning?”
A crushing weight fell on my chest.
He’d left.
“What did he say?” I asked, sinking down onto the sofa next to her.
“Nothing.” She crunched on her toast, crumbs spilling all over the fabric. “Guess that explains why you didn’t get to The Black Cap last night.” Glancing at the expression on my face, she asked. “I guess you don’t want to talk about it?”
“You guess right.” I pulled my knees up to my chest, resting my chin on them.
My brain whirled over everything that had happened last night. Not just the sex - which had been mind-blowing and more intense than I remember it ever being - but how we’d talked afterwards. How Mat had held me in his arms, kissing my temple so tenderly.
Like it had all meant something.
Clearly, I was little more than a one night, meaningless, bit of fun for him.
He’d go back to Manchester, go back to Ellie and forget all about me.
Tears caught in my throat and I struggled to keep them at bay.
Callie placed a soothing hand on my arm. “Do you want me to stay home today? I can make up some excuse and call in sick?”
I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak.
“If you’re sure? I don’t want to leave you alone.” Her hand moved to my shoulder and moved in small, comforting circles.
