Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
My chest ached when I pondered the future. What if she never came back to Seneca Falls? What if I never saw Alex again as long as I lived? I couldn’t imagine it, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
On Wednesday of last week, Alex had sent me a text to let me know that while she didn’t plan to abandon the Ryan’s House project, she needed a week or two off to clear her head before facing me again. Still, I’d spent the weekend holding out hope that she’d change her mind and show up anyway. She’d surprised me before. I supposed in the end she’d done me a favor by staying away, because how was I supposed to handle myself around her now? All I’d want to do was reach out and kiss her, hold her, comfort her, and I wouldn’t be able to do any of that. So maybe I should’ve been grateful she didn’t show up.
My phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. It was a number I didn’t recognize, but I picked up anyway.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Brayden. It’s Wells…Alex’s friend.”
My heart nearly stopped. “Is everything okay?” Why else would he be calling me?
“Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Didn’t mean to alarm you, loverboy. She’s fine…well, physically, anyway.”
That hurt to hear, but it wasn’t anything I didn’t already suspect.
“I went into her contacts to steal your number because I thought you and I should have a talk about the latest…happenings,” he continued.
I gulped. “Okay…”
“I know I may be overstepping here, but I’m doing so for her own good. Alex has been keeping everything bottled up inside.”
I shut my eyes for a moment. “How is she doing overall?”
“She’s really down. And I hate seeing it. She deserves so much happiness after everything she’s been through. What you and she were cooking up made her happier than I’d seen her in a while. And as her friend, I’m having a hard time watching her throw all that away for nothing.”
“I’d hardly call this dilemma nothing. It’s fucked up, but it’s not nothing.”
“Yeah, I get the conflict. Believe me, I do. She loves Caitlin more than anything. But you’re all adults, you know? It shouldn’t be this difficult. She’s sacrificing her own happiness for something that’s long in the past. It wasn’t like Caitlin was hung up on you or anything. You only came up again because you were dating Alex. Now all of a sudden, there’s a problem? All of a sudden you exist again? It doesn’t sit right with me that Alex should have to throw away her love life because of some college fling her daughter had a decade ago. I mean, I’m sure you’re a totally different person than you were then.”
“I am. But good luck convincing Alex she should disregard her daughter’s feelings, regardless of how much time has gone by. She’ll never do anything to upset her.”
“I realize convincing her to put her own happiness first in this equation is a tough sell. But I’m also a huge believer that what people don’t know won’t hurt them.”
I squinted. “What do you mean?”
“That brings me to the real reason I’m calling.”
“What’s that?”
“Alex and I are coming to New York City tomorrow.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Really?”
“I figured she wouldn’t have told you.”
“Safe assumption. We haven’t spoken since she texted last week to let me know she wouldn’t be coming upstate. What’s going on in the City?”
“A medical spa expo. We’re driving in tomorrow, and only going to be staying one night.”
Adrenaline coursed through me at the prospect of Alex coming to my city. The need to see her felt urgent. “Just one night, huh?”
“Yep,” he said. “Blink and you’ll miss us. I was thinking maybe you could, you know, happen to show up at the restaurant where we’ll be eating dinner.”
“I don’t know, man. Do you think she’ll want to see me if she’s been actively avoiding talking to me?”
“I realize she’d never initiate this, but I do think once she sees you, she’ll be happy you’re there. It will give you an opportunity to properly talk about what happened. I feel like she ran off so fast the weekend Caitlin was there, you didn’t have time to process any of this in private.”
I sighed. “Well, that’s the damn truth.”
“No pressure. I just thought you’d want to know she’s coming to town, because I knew she wouldn’t tell you herself.”
I nodded. “I appreciate you letting me know. Definitely text me where you guys end up going. I’m not sure yet if showing up is the right decision. I’ll need to think on it.”
“Will do.”
“And hey, the offer still stands for me to introduce you to my friend Deek,” I added. “Just let me know if you’re interested. Maybe not this trip since you’re only in town for one night. But next time.”