Page 53 of Playing With Secrets
“Partially. I’ve heard the rumors about you and Jami. I’ve seen you together. A part of me loves it and the other part hates it.”
Her face pales. “Do you want me to stop being friends with him? I will if you need me to.”
“No. He needs a friend.” I shake my head and swallow my shame. “God knows he deserves one more than anyone.”
“Then why can’t you two be in the same room together? You’re leaving something big out of this.”
“I hurt him and I don’t think there’s any hope of coming back from it. Maybe it’s for the best.”
“He says you aren’t on speaking terms, but I don’t know why.”
“What did he tell you?”
“Not much. All I know is how you reacted when you thought he and I were running off together isn’t how someone would act if they didn’t care. Not working it out with him isn’t for the best. You need a resolution.”
“I wish I could work it out with him, but what I did crossed a line. A big one of Jami’s.” My body fills with muddy, sticky guilt. “All he wants is a family of his own and in seconds, I destroyed any chance of him having one with me.”
Her eyes round. “Did you have an abor?—”
“No. It wasn’t that, but I was pregnant.” I hold back the sudden tears. “Shit. I don’t want to talk about this.”
She rushes to me and hugs me. “I’m so sorry. You should’ve told me. I would’ve let you cry on my shoulder as long as you needed to. You still can if you want.”
With that, I melt into her embrace as my agony takes over and causes me to shake in her arms. My cries fill the room while she holds me like a mother would hold her broken child. How I wish I would’ve let someone hold me like this that night.
“What did you do while I was away?” Hunter throws his dirty clothes into a pile on his bedroom floor.
I’m sitting on the edge of the mattress as he unpacks aftera week away. “Work, therapy, and Melanie and I went out last night.”
“Yeah? What did you two?—”
“Oh, I almost forgot. I went to a spin class this morning.”
“You finally got a workout in. That’s great news. You’ve been too sick or busy, so you must be on the mend with a lot less pressure on your shoulders.” He takes some shoes out of his suitcase and disappears into his closet.
I wait for him to come back out before I speak. He pops his head around the corner and nods, telling me to continue.
“I feel better. The success of the mock launch has freed up more time on my calendar. I even sent all my advertisements to the respected parties earlier than planned. It’s a great feeling.”
He comes out of the closet and continues to unpack. “I like the sounds of that. I take it your night out with Melanie was fun.”
“It was. She was in true Melanie form, but I needed a night out like that.” I laugh under my breath.
“Why do you say that?”
“We met a bunch of our friends out.”
“Like who?”
“Oh, a bunch of people. It was a sizeable group.” I tuck my hair behind my ear. “Being out with everyone reminded me of how many people I have in my life that I’ve pretty much blown off since you and I started doing this thing we do.”
“This thing we do? That’s an interesting way of putting it.” He stops unpacking and stares at me for a moment.
My chest grows heavy. I need to have this talk with him, but I’m shaking inside. It could go well or turn into a disastrous fight.
With the blood swooshing through my ears, I get up and meander to the Juliet balcony doors. I try to appreciate a fewsnowflakes falling on the other side of the window as I figure out how to approach this conversation.
He joins me at my side. “Where’s your head at?”
