Every Wrong Reason(43)

Nick had always been the wild rebel child that his successful parents couldn’t take seriously. And they had always been the part of his life he politely tolerated. I thought I had created some kind of peaceful bridge between them.

Apparently not.

Apparently, they hated me as much as Nick did.

Sure, I hadn’t heard from them once since Nick and I separated, but I didn’t think they wanted to take all of my earthly possessions and leave me out in the cold.

They had always been nice. Distant, but nice.

Apparently distant-but-nice meant they had been harboring some kind of intense hatred for me. At least they had something in common with Nick now.

Kate Carter, bringing families together since 2008.

You’re welcome.

If Nick was that desperate to ask his parents for money, then he really did want to make me suffer.

I dropped my coffee thermos on the floor as my entire world began to spin out of control. Nick couldn’t hate me this much.

Sure, we’d had a rocky marriage, but did I deserve this? Was I that terrible of a person?

“You dropped this.”

I nearly screamed at the intrusion. I snapped out of my internal breakdown and blinked Eli into focus.

“Oh, my god. You scared me.” My hand landed on my fluttering heart and I sucked in enough oxygen so my brain could process his sudden appearance.

He gave me a playful smile. “You’re kind of easy to sneak up on.”

Nick’s words bounced around in my head. You’re ridiculously easy to surprise.

Was I?

“Sorry,” I tried to smile. “I was lost in my head.”

Eli’s smile turned patient. “I gathered.”

He held out my coffee cup and I took it from him. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He shifted on his feet while I tried to collect my wits. “So, uh, you looked a little panic stricken when I walked in. Is everything okay?”

I nodded without thinking.

“You sure? You’re a little pale. Do you want to sit down?”

I looked down at my desk self-consciously. It took me a few minutes to figure out what I wanted to say. I had trouble disentangling myself from my riotous thoughts. Finally, I lifted my gaze to bravely meet his and asked, “Am I a terrible person?”

Eli’s eyebrows lifted with surprise. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “I just need to know if I’m a complete bitch. I can’t tell.”

“Well that should tell you something,” he said with no small amount of amusement.

“I’m serious. You can be honest with me. I can take it.”

“No,” he said quickly. For a second I thought he was refusing to answer my question until he put a gentle hand on mine and continued, “You’re not a terrible person. You’re definitely not a complete bitch. You’re none of those things. Why would you think otherwise?”

I felt better. Even if I didn’t entirely believe him, my vanity was appeased. “I was just thinking about this divorce,” I explained quietly. “Suddenly Nick is refusing to do this amicably. He’s threatened to make this as difficult as possible. I just… I wondered if he was maybe punishing me for how awful I was to him during our marriage.”

Eli’s raised eyebrows dropped and scrunched together over the bridge of his nose. “I thought you said this was a decision you came to together?”

“We did. At least I thought we did. His behavior has been… confusing.”

“Has he changed his mind?”

“What do you mean?”

Eli frowned. “Does he not want to get divorced anymore?”

I took a step back, feeling shaken up and unsteady. “Of course he wants the divorce.”

“Then why is he being difficult?” Eli’s question landed with all the gentleness of a tank running over me.

I shook my head helplessly, “I don’t know.”

He didn’t say anything else about Nick. There wasn’t really anything left to say.

“I’m sorry, Eli. I’ve been super self-absorbed since you walked in. Did you need something?”

He let out a nervous laugh and I immediately regretted how I’d phrased my question. He held my gaze though and asked, “I was wondering if you had plans tonight.”

“Tonight?” I sounded like an idiot repeating him, but it was a school night. And by that, I meant a normal Tuesday…

Seeming to read my thoughts, he grinned and said, “I won’t keep you out late. But I thought we could grab a cup of coffee?”

“Coffee?”

“Or a different beverage. I mean, you’re not limited strictly to coffee. We could go for a soda instead. Or iced tea. Water even, if none of those, uh, sound good.”

I realized that my parroting had made Eli nervous. And other than finding it completely adorable, it was not my intention to make him suffer. I laughed, hoping to diffuse the tension. “Actually, coffee sounds really good. I could use some caffeine.” And then because I was still an idiot and didn’t want him to think that the only reason I agreed to go out with him was because I was sleepy, I said, “It will be fun to spend some time with you!” And then because I wasn’t sure if this was a date or not and I apparently had an addiction to sticking my foot in my mouth, I didn’t stop talking and said, “We never get to hang out just the two of us!”