Page 29 of An Unexpected Everything
“Prom? Already?” They’d grown so much. So much time had passed and it continued to dawn on me that he’d raised an entire family since I’d seen him.
“Yeah. Senior prom. I don’t know how it happened, but the kids are now adults.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but instead shook my head. “They’re lucky to have you.” I paused. “I should go.”
He nodded, his gaze searching mine, and I turned away, knowing I was making a choice that could change anything.
I could feel him watching me walk away, but I kept going. I’d truly gone there only to hand off paperwork—lie. Fine, I’d gone with the intention of dealing with Hudson’s paperwork, but I’d known the moment I saw him things would be different. That I wouldn’t be able to not think about him.
And we truly needed to figure things out.
I didn’t know what that meant, but there was no going back now.
By the time I got back to Aston and Blakely’s I didn’t bother getting into comfier clothing like I normally would while working remotely—not when I knew Weston would be heresoon. I ignored my heartbeat going far too quickly in that moment and got to work. Maybe if I focused on numbers and reports, I wouldn’t be thinking about the fact I would once again be alone with Weston.
My thoughts were more confused than ever.
Because he had left for a reason.
To protect and raise his family. And while I would doanythingfor my family and was continuing to do so day by day even though I didn’t trust my parents—either of them. And that was the crux of it.
Trust.
I had trusted Weston with my heart, and he’d broken that trust.
Before I could spiral more in my own thoughts, the doorbell rang and then Weston was there, and my heart was racing.
I stood in my open doorway, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do. I knew it was that damn outfit again. He had on jeans, old work boots, a Henley with his sleeves rolled up, and leaned against the doorframe.
It should be illegal for a man to do that.
Forearm porn.
Doorway porn.
Henley porn.
Damn that man.
“Are you going to invite me in, Bella? Or did I make a mistake in thinking you actually wanted me here? I’ll go. I’ll walk away. Because I already took your choice away once.”
And damn that man once again.
“Oh. Come in. Though it’s weird to say that about a house I don’t even own, and you’ve probably been in more than me.”
He shook his head as he straightened and walked across the threshold. “I don’t know Aston. He doesn’t come up like the others do. So no, I’ve never been here.”
I closed the door behind him and stood there, feeling awkward as hell. I didn’t understand this. I wasn’t the awkward one. I was the one who dealt with things. Even as I stressed and tried to make things work, I was always on top of what needed to be done.
Pheobe and Sophia were the awkward ones. Kyler the one who ignored the world. And Emily was the one who went face first into every interaction and tried to see the bright side.
I was the bitch who got things done and was called the ice queen along the way. A title I’d never resented until faced with my new brothers and their intimidating ways. It had been a miracle we hadn’t fought until the end of the earth at first. But now I knew they’d fight alongside me, rather than with me.
A novel concept. But none of that mattered in the face of Weston.
“I don’t know what to say, Bella.”
His words brought me out of my thoughts once again and I stared at the man I’d once thought I’d loved. No, that was a cop out. He was the man I’d loved and the man I’d locked away because it hurt too much to think of.
