Page 88 of Sugarlips
I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that this was harmless and she would have a quick conversation and be back here with me in a matter of minutes.
With a step back, her hand slipped away from my chest. The absence of her touch was physically painful. I was losing her. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
I watched as she exited the side door of the food truck and held out her hand to Dan. “Give me your keys.”
“Why? Where’re we going?” he asked, swaying.
“If you want to talk, we’re doing so as I take your ass home.”
The jangle of metal on metal rang through the quiet night as Dan dropped his keys into her palm, then threw a quick look at me, a smug smirk curving to his eyes. They walked shoulder to shoulder, fading into the darkness of the park.
I should have felt better with her affirmation.He’s not going to succeed. But even when all reason and rationality told me she didn’t want Dan, my gut wobbled.
Then again, my gut had been wrong about Chloe back in high school.
And it had been wrong back when she kissed me the first time two months ago.
Maybe my gut wasn’t the most dependable gauge.
But it wasn’t wrong about Dan, was it?A little voice sang in my head.
And that’s what scared me.
33
Chloe
It took me twenty minutes to get Dan back to his new house—and his house was only a ten-minute drive outside of town.
On the walk to his car, he could barely stay upright and stumbled at least three times. I practically had to hoist his body up, clutching my arms around him to keep him upright.
But we were finally here. Dan’s house. I gripped the steering wheel, peering at the two-story home. It was a lot like Dan. Boring. Nondescript. Not ugly or unattractive… just plain. Milk toast.
This was the house he had left ours for. The life he had left us for. The woman he’d run to while I sat behind picking up the pieces of our shattered life.
The more I thought about it, the more enraged I felt. “Dan,” I grunted and shoved my palm into his shoulder. “Get out. You’re home.”
“Home,” he repeated. With the grace of an ox, he dropped his head into his hands. “This isn’t home. Home was withyou. Terrybrook Lane is home. Notthis.” He glanced up at the plain two-story house and waved a dismissive hand.
My throat went dry. Liam had been right. He wanted me back. He regretted leaving me for Raina. It was everything I had wanted to hear. Everything I had longed for and was waiting for… only it didn’t feel good. I didn’t feel vindicated or at peace.
In fact, it felthorrible.
“Thisisyour home now, Dan. By your own choice.” I turned my head to glance at him… only he wasn’t looking back at me. His gaze was set ahead. “And it was the right choice.”
“Was it?” His pleading eyes finally turned to look at me in the dim light of his car. “Raina’s a nice girl and all, but I feelridiculouswhen I’m with her. She doesn’t fit in at all with my colleagues. She’s quirky and kind of ridiculous. She puts crystals under our pillows for God’s sake.”
“You left me for a reason. You must have liked all that quirkiness at one point.” Somehow, I managed to keep my voice even when in reality, I wanted to scream at him. Thank God he left me! Who knows how many years I would have wasted with him if he hadn’t?
“It was… different. Fun at first. I thought I wanted that, but I was wrong. She’s all wrong for me. And you? You and I were good together. I love you.”
I clenched my hands tighter at the wheel, trying to still the angry trembling of my white-knuckled grip. “We werenotgood for each other. And you don’t love me… people in love don’t cheat. They don’t betray each other and hurt each other. They don’t ask their partner to be someone she isn’t.”
He shook his head, his mussed, brown hair falling into his eyes. “Ididlove you. I just don’t think I’m capable of being monogamous. I mean…fuck. Look at you. If I can’t be faithful to you, there’s no hope for any woman.”
My throat tightened and a thousand hot needles burned behind my eyes.Look at you. “Because I’m pretty,” I whispered. “That’s all I ever was to you. Arm candy. A beautiful Stepford Wife who would be quiet and smile and latch onto your arm at all the functions.”
“That’s not—”
