Page 69 of Win My Heart

ChapterFifteen

BERNIE

Little did I know,I was so wrong.

Since The Bar is only two blocks from our building, it’s an easy and enjoyable walk home. Wade takes me by surprise when he grabs my hand as we walk down the sidewalk. I lean into him, soaking up my time with him. He has always been so close but has felt so far away.

We walk in comfortable silence, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve always been drawn to him. When we’re together, there’s no pretending. We can just be. We don’t have to fill every minute with talking.

Our building is in sight. There isn’t a lot of foot traffic, which is isn’t the norm for a Saturday night in Downtown Chicago. The doorman spots us and moves to hold the door open. While our building isn’t uber fancy, it does have a good security team and a doorman who stands by in the evening hours.

“You want to come back to my apartment?” I ask Wade, looking away from the entrance of the building.

But he drops my hand instantly and puts distance between us. I stumble at the sudden change.

That’s when I hear them.

“Oh, hey. What are you guys doing?” Dex says. He’s a few feet in front of us now, just having left the building.

Morgan and Gia both share looks of concern as they look between me and Wade. Dex is standing next to Simon as Simon slides his phone into his pocket.

“Oh” is all I manage before Wade interrupts.

“We ran into each other a couple blocks back. I’m walking her home.” He won’t look at me.

I don’t even know how to feel right now. My eyes bore into his profile as he stands there, clearly under duress. Confusion, mixed with anger, mixed with hurt swirl around in my gut. A rock forms in the pit of my stomach, and I’m not sure any amount of Tums could fix the ache.

Words are lost to me in the moment, but Dex accepts Wade’s answer.

“You’re such a gentleman, big bro.” He chuckles and smacks Wade on the shoulder as the group of them move forward. I pull my gaze off Wade and land on Gia’s and Morgan’s, but I can’t take the worried looks they’re giving me. I risk a peek at Simon and Dex, but they don’t seem concerned, so I guess Wade dropping my hand like a hot potato didn’t register to them.

I can feel my skin warm, the anger slowly simmering to the top of my mix of emotions.

“We’re heading out to dinner. Gonna get some cheesesteaks. You guy want to join?” Simon asks. He directs the question to both of us, but I can’t look at him. He knows me well enough that I fear he’ll read all my emotion in one moment of eye-to-eye contact.

Simon’s the least cocky of my teammates, including past and present. He’s broody, less so now that Gia is back in his life, but he’s down to earth and can read a room.

That said room right now is the space right outside the apartment, where a man who I thought was finally over hiding our relationship ran scared. Again.

I finally find my voice. “Thanks for the invite, but I already ate.” I school my tone the best I can, trying not to snap at him. It’s not Simon’s fault Wade is being an asshole.

I start to move then, past the group of friends. I look over my shoulder, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze, lift a hand, and wave as I mutter, “Night.”

I don’t hear the exchange that happens as I walk away, only that they talk for a few moments more.

If I were a bit more into the dramatics, I’d be stomping right now. There would also be tears. I’m not a big crier, but I can feel them burning the backs of my eyes.

It’s a short walk to the elevator once I’m in the cozy lobby, and I punch the up button on the wall with more force than I intended.

“Bernie, hold up,” I hear Wade say behind me.

Bug that. He can be left behind. I’m not going to hold this elevator for him.

“Hey,” he tries again as I step onto the elevator. But damn it, he slides right on in as the doors start to close.

His breathing is ragged. Mine is too, but only because I’m holding back so much anger.

He turns to me. “Bernadette.” His voice is low, pleading, but I hold my hand up to stop him.

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