Page 21 of Reconnected Hearts
My life is a mess.
“You know you actually have to hit the button for the call to go through?” Lucy asks in a tone that makes it hard to distinguish whether she’s joking or not. I look over at her in exasperation.
“Yes, I know. I’m just trying to...I don’t know, figure out what to say?”
Lucy is doing a poor job of hiding an amused smile. “Do you want me to write you a script?”
I shoot her a look and bite the bullet, hitting the button and putting the call on speaker so Lucy can share my misery.
Throughout the phone call, I try not to completely panic. The manager gets upset in the most professional way possible, and I can’t tell if I’m reading too far into his passive aggression. I gauge how I should be reacting by how Lucy is reacting. She’s got a good poker face, I’ll give her that, but I catch her grimacing at some of the comments the man makes.
The final decision is that they will check and see if they have any more available appointments and then get back to me.
So, basically, they want to make me sweat.
After it’s over, I wearily look at Lucy. “Was that as bad as I think it was?”
She gives a little shrug, but the way her lips tighten into a straight line tells me it was probably worse. “I mean, it definitely wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. That guy was a dick, though. Like...how is it your fault the flight got canceled?”
I smile a bit, feeling a little better. “Well, itwasmy fault that I missed the first flight that landed safely in Maryland—” I check my watch—“nineteen hours ago.”
Lucy grins. “I dunno, it’s probably for the best. You probably would’ve sat next to some smelly kid on that flight.”
I laugh at the idea. If I’d caught that first plane, I would be in Maryland right now, and Lucy Marino never would’ve crossed my mind. I think she may be right. It was for the best that I missed my flight.
I gently jab my elbow into her side, and she giggles and pulls away.
“Yeah,” I agree, “andyouwould’ve had to sit next to some creepy man, I bet.”
Lucy’s eyes sparkle with mischief as she looks up at me. “Who says I didn’t?”
Iswearshe knows what she’s doing when she flutters her lashes and chews at her lip like that.
I’m slowly becoming obsessed with the way she looks at me, and I know that I have to put a stop to it. As amazing as last night was, as soon as we get to Providence tomorrow, Lucy and I are parting ways. I can’t afford to get attached. I can’t afford to care about her. I’m already saying too many hard goodbyes lately. I don’t want to add another one.
“So, your dad’s wedding…” I start as a desperate attempt to change the subject. “You aren’t going to miss it, are you?”
Lucy’s expression darkens, and I can immediately tell I’ve said something wrong. I start to double back and reroute the conversation somewhere else, but she cuts me off before I can.
“Maybe.” She looks at me, her eyes scarily void of emotion. As much as I didn’t like the way she was looking at me before, this is worse—so much worse. “It doesn’t matter, though. He won’t care. You know why? ’Cause he doesn’t care about a goddamn thing. He might say he does, but at the end of the day, all he cares about is having his shiny new toy to parade around. Until he gets tired of her and finds a new one.” She scoffs, “but, that’s guys, right? They’re interested until they’re not.” Her eyes are now brimming with tears.
I don’t know what she wants from me.
My mouth goes dry as a bone. I feel sick to my stomach. Is that how she thinks I see her? As a shiny toy to be used for a fun time?
I can’t promise her forever right now; heck, we’re only just getting to know each other, really.
“Lucy, Idon’tsee you as some toy. Let’s just continue to take it slow and see where things go and maybe?—”
“Forget it.” She stands up and retreats into the bedroom, and I’m left feeling nauseatingly empty and guilty. I don’t know what I’ve done wrong, but it must be something. Maybe I said the wrong thing last night. But never in a million years would I do it on purpose.It’s honestly sort of infuriating that she’d even think that.Shecame ontome. There’s no way I'm the bad guy here. Maybe I’ve been a dick in the past, but not to Lucy—not anymore. She knows that, I told her that last night...
I think about what I would do if one of my sisters came to me and said something like what she said. Without hesitation, I know I would tell them to stay the hell away from whatever man made them feel so shallow. The last thing I want to do is to stay away from Lucy, but I don’t want to make it worse. So, I remain glued to my seat and silently ponder how the hell it went so wrong so quickly.
CHAPTER11
LUCY
Ishouldn’t have let myself become so at ease with him. I know better than that. I know better than to let my guard down. Thinking about my dad reminded me that mencheat, lie, and manipulate, and once they get what they want, they move on. I found out about Jace and Amy over a year ago now, but the lessons I learned from them remain strong: Don’t be vulnerable. Don’t let anyone in. Then, you can’t get hurt.
