Page 12 of Green
“I told Chloe not to tell Ethan.”
“Of course she told him. He’s her husband.” He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in—in a brotherly fashion. “And I’myourhusband,” he said, so quietly that I barely heard him. Then he winked at me and squeezed me closer. “You should have told me.”
My body tensed up, fighting this for about three whole seconds, and then I dropped the handle of my luggage and wrapped my arms around him, buried my face into his chest and burst into tears. For the fifth time in twenty-four hours. I was a mess.
“I’m fine!”
“It’s okay to not be fine.”
“I know. I’m fine.”
“Hey, hey…” He held me close and rubbed my back. “I’m sorry. I want to kick Andrew in the head, but I’m sorry. I also want to punch him in the balls. Sorry.”
“I’m not even mad at him,” I mumbled into his shirt.
“What?”
“Nothing.” If I told him I wasn’t mad at Andrew then I’d have to explain why, and I couldn’t do that. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I can’t believe you still don’t understand how awesome I am.”
I can’t believe you still don’t realize how aware I am of how awesome you are, you idiot.
“I’ll have to go back in the morning and pull an all-nighter tomorrow, but it’s cool. I gave my guys the night off too. This way, my best friendandmy employees think I’m amazing. Win-win.”
“What a wonderful world. Why aren’t you wearing your Jays cap?”
“I didn’t have time to change when I got home. I don’t wear logos at work unless they’re my own.”
He grabbed my carry-on bag and slid his free arm around my shoulder. I clutched my handbag to my side, because therein hid my brand new Just Friends journal.
“What kind of mood you in? Moody Judy, Negative Nelly, Raging Granny or Daisy Denial?”
“Annoyed Annie.”
“Ah. I’ll let you project your annoyance onto me for about two minutes, but good luck with that once we get to my car.”
“Why—are you going to let me run you over with it?”
“I’m glad you still have your sense of humor.”
“I’m glad you don’t expect me to run you over. That will make it so much easier.”
While Theo was putting my bag in the trunk of his Prius, I walked over to the passenger side and felt my body tense up again, because DAMMIT he was right. I couldn’t be annoyed at him. Sitting on the passenger seat was a big teddy bear, a box of old-fashioned donuts, and a big package of sliced organic cheddar cheese.
I glanced over at him, frowning.
He was beaming and very proud of himself. He opened the passenger door for me, picked up the teddy bear, placed the donuts and cheese on the dashboard so I could get in. “Mi’lady.” He placed the teddy bear in my lap once I’d buckled my seatbelt.
I shook my head.Stop it. Stop being so freaking cute and perfect. Just stop it.
We didn’t say anything all the way home, as I finally relaxed and he quietly delighted in his own magnificence.
It’s less than an hour and a half flight time from Palo Alto to the Burbank airport. He would have had a car take him home, then picked up his own car, then stopped off at the market to get the cheese and donuts and probably bought the stuffed animal at a drugstore. He would have been on the phone with his employees the entire time. How is it possible that I knew him so well, but he had never stopped surprising me? How is it possible that he knew me so well but he had no idea how I really felt about him?
And yet, I knew that I would continue to hide my feelings as surely as I would eat all of that cheese and every single donut even though it would make me constipated for days.
I’ve been emotionally constipated for two years. Appropriate.
