Page 53 of Ever After

“I am. Lia finished moving in last night. There was some stuff I needed to move, and Aiden had to pick up some of his stuff so she could fit hers in here. Making room for her here was something I forgot about. I never go into my guest room. I didn’t realize all the stuff we had in there.”

“Oh,” he says quietly. “So you saw Aiden?”

“Yes. A lot of it was his stuff. I asked him to take it to his parents’ house. Why?”

“I guess I didn’t think you would still see him since she was moving in.”

“That’s my plan for him to finally move everything out and sign the papers. I’ll probably still see him. He is also still trying to work things out.”

“How did things go when he picked his stuff up?”

“He acted surprised that I asked him to pick up some of his stuff. He didn’t believe Lia was going to move in. It almost looked like he was finally realizing we were over. There was a sadness in him I’d never seen before. It was weird.”

Another yawn broke through me. This time, it makes tears roll down my cheeks. I sit up higher in bed and lean my back into the head frame. I grab my shirt and wipe the tears off my face.

“Are you crying?”

“No. I yawned, and it made tears and my nose run.”

“Are you crying over him?”

“No.” I debated telling him about last night. I guess I shouldn’t have. I’m too tired to get into this with him.

“Anyway. I called to see if you would be okay with me coming out there. There are some days that I have free. I thought I could take a trip and see you.”

“Yeah, I’m okay with it. That will be fun,” I mumble.

What if he runs into Aiden? What if Aiden pops up at the house unannounced like he’s been doing?

“Are you sure? You don’t sound too excited.”

He must hear the worry in my voice. “I would really enjoy spending time together. I’m just exhausted.”

“Okay. I’ll send you the flight itinerary once I book the trip.”

Now I don’t feel tired. My nerves ramp up from him wanting to come visit me. “Okay,” I say, not knowing what else to say.

“I’ll let you get back to sleep. Call me later,” he says.

“I will.”

The second I press the red button on my phone to end the call, I jump off my bed and sprint over to Lia’s room. Once I reach the door, I swing it wide open and scream, “Lia!”

Her whole body jumps from my scream. She sits up in her bed, wide-eyed, looking at me like I’m about to tell her awful news.

“What? What happened? Is everything okay?”

Out of breath, I walk over to her bed and sit down. “Jay.” That’s all the words that can come out.

She sits up straighter and grabs my hand. “Is he okay?”

“He wants to come visit me.”

“You bitch.” She shoves my shoulder so hard I lose my balance and fall off the bed, hitting the side of my ass on the floor.

“What the hell?” I say, standing back up. “Why did you do that?”

“You scared me. You ran in here and yelled my name as if someone died.” She leans back and pulls the covers back over her. “Why are you acting crazy because Jay’s coming here to see you? Most girls would be happy. But you look like someone ran over your cat.”

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