Under the Table(59)
Zoey shook her head sadly. “A guy doesn’t need to be a social guru to know breaking a relationship off in a text means it’s really over.”
Zoey had known all along that Tristan would do exactly what he did. He stepped aside. Maybe he was simply too gentle. But that didn’t mean he deserved to be cast aside so callously.
“You are so good at being there for everyone else, maybe it’s time you start doing for yourself. I don’t know what happened between you two, but I do know you. I know you can live with whatever the outcome is if you try to make it right. And that is the last piece of advice I am going to give you.”
They sealed their reconciliation with a hug and Zoey’s vow to stay out of Ruth’s affairs moving forward.
“I promise to keep my nose out of your business,” she said. “But when disaster befalls you because of some dumb-ass decision, can I say I told you so?”
“Only if you’re looking to start wearing dentures,” Ruth replied with a squeeze and a laugh.
Zoey started to laugh as well, but she took Ruth’s advice to heart.
“I see Blake hasn’t gotten to all your rough edges yet.”
“Of course he did. Maybe they’re just the parts he likes best.”
Zoey looked to Ruth for any sign that she was being tested in the art of minding her business. Ruth’s subsequent grin confirmed she was.
“Which brings me to the in-other-news department. You’re still homeless, unless you can afford the rent here on your own. Blake is convinced I’d make an excellent litigator. He talked me into going back to school and then law school. He offered to let me move in with him to save some money. I’m not about to show him my bank statement, but I still said yes.”
Zoey couldn’t believe her own ears. “Is this another test?”
Ruth smiled. “Afraid not. My party days are over, at least for the time being. Blake makes it sound pretty great. And who knows? Maybe I’ll take domesticity on a test drive.”
“Isn’t this all a bit sudden?”
“I’ve kissed a lot of frogs, little sis. I know a prince when I see one. Now why don’t you take a cab uptown and try to win back yours?”
Chapter 23
As soon as the door opened, there was a brief spark of surprise in Tristan’s eyes, then . . . nothing. She wasn’t foolish enough to think he’d be happy to see her, but she wasn’t prepared for him to look so aloof either.
“Tristan,” Zoey said in a rush, in the unlikely event he was going to slam the door. “I had to come and apologize. Face-to-face.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry for,” he replied, opening the door wider to let her in.
“There certainly is. Whether you are aware of it or not, breaking up with someone in a text message is about as low as a person can go.”
He was working overtime to keep from meeting her eyes. “There was a lot going on. I could tell you were reeling.”
Zoey knew he would be polite and understanding. His empathy was one of his most admirable traits. At this particular juncture, it was heartbreaking. She wanted to throw herself in his arms, kiss him until his lips turned blue, but she didn’t dare. He was standoffish, rightly so. She had hurt him, and it was evident. “I wanted to try and explain. . . .”
Her words trailed off. All the rehearsing she had done on the way over was for naught after taking one look at him. There was no good explanation for what she had done, other than a knee-jerk reaction based on a mistaken sense of duty to a marriage that should’ve ended a long time ago.
“You don’t have to explain why you went back to your husband,” Tristan stated, turning his back on her and walking down the hall. “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wonder what you’re doing here now.”
“After Derek tossed my stuff onto the highway, I took a little detour back to the city. Rode shotgun in a big rig for a couple states.”
Tristan turned back to her again. His lips twitched into what was almost a smile. Maybe a touch of sympathy. Then he went back to aloof, turning on his heel without asking her anything further.
“It was a lady trucker, just so you know,” she explained.
“Thanks for clearing that up,” he said. Just when did he start applying sarcasm to his sentences? Zoey’s heart sank. Her being here was only making it worse.
His apartment was spotless as always. Conspicuous by its absence was all of the Rock Band equipment in his living room. Further evidence that she had crushed him. She began to prattle in her effort to make amends.
“I knew inside of three hours after getting in a car with him that I had made an awful mistake. When Derek showed up clean and sober, I thought that I didn’t have a choice. I stupidly felt that I had to hold up my end of the bargain. He had done everything I wanted. It wasn’t until we were alone that I finally realized he hadn’t changed at all. Not on the inside.” The words sounded lame to her own ears.
“No, Zoey. You don’t get to take all the blame. And that’s not just me being noble either. If I hadn’t held back on telling you how I felt about you, we could’ve spent that time cementing our relationship and you might have made a different choice.”
His words were clipped, his tone biting. They had a distinct ring of finality to them. He wasn’t going to accept her changing her mind. He didn’t really go out of his way to accept her apology. He kept shuffling things around, refusing to look at her directly for more than a second. She had hurt him so badly he was back to his own version of solitary confinement.