Coming Home(62)

Danny, completely wasted and clearly upset in her car. Danny’s lips in her hair. I lied to you. About so many things. His hands clasping hers as he told her he couldn’t be with her. That it wouldn’t be fair to either of them. My sweet girl. That soft, chaste kiss that once again left her reeling.

Leah ran her hands down her face as she exhaled, and then she stood from the couch and padded over to the doorway of his bedroom. She leaned against the doorframe, folding her arms over her chest as she looked at him.

He was lying on his stomach with his head turned away from her, his arms up at his sides and his hands shoved under the pillow. Leah noticed that the bottle of water on the nightstand was empty, and she tiptoed over to the pail, cringing as she peeked inside.

All clear.

Her shoulders dropped in relief, and she watched the rise and fall of his back for another minute before she left his bedroom.

Leah went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, using some toothpaste on her finger to brush her teeth as best she could.

When she was through, she walked back out to the living room and stood in the center of it.

She didn’t know what she should do.

She didn’t want to just leave without talking to him about everything, but she knew he needed sleep right now. She couldn’t hang around his apartment all day waiting for him to wake up, and even if she could, trying to have a serious conversation with someone who was hung over was just a bad idea, plain and simple.

But she did need to talk to him. She needed to make sense of everything once and for all, because as much as he’d told her last night, so much was still left unsaid. If anything, Leah felt more confused than she was before he confessed his feelings to her.

Go home. Call him tomorrow, after he’s had some time to recover.

With a plan in place, Leah felt a little better as she stepped into her shoes and scanned the apartment once more. She knew he would be hurting when he woke up, whenever that was, so she tried to anticipate anything he might need. She went to the fridge and got another bottle of water, quietly placing it on his nightstand as she grabbed the empty one.

As Leah tossed the bottle in the trash, her eye landed on his coffee maker, and she decided she would set up a pot of coffee for him before she left.

She opened a few cabinets, finding the coffee on the third try, and just as she brought it to the counter and popped off the lid, she gasped.

Realization washed over her, bringing a rush of nausea with it as the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

How could she not have seen it earlier?

“I had no right to ask you out.”

“I can’t see you. It’s not fair to you.”

“I lied to you.”

And then, something he had said to her a while back:

“I don’t have a girlfriend, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Leah stood there unmoving, the lid of the coffee still in her hand.

It was so obvious.

How close had she come to being the other woman? There was some girl out there who was with Danny, who maybe even loved him, completely oblivious to their phone calls, their texting, their kisses.

Oh my God, I kissed him. I kissed another girl’s boyfriend.

Her heart started racing, and she felt as if she might be sick. This was all hitting far too close to home for her, and she knew she needed to get out of there.

Immediately.

With trembling hands Leah snapped the lid back on the coffee and turned, gasping loudly as the can slipped from her fingers and crashed at her feet. The top popped off, spraying coffee grounds across the floor.