Maybe Someday(58)

ive and knew it would feel good. He didn’t part

my lips with his because he enjoys kissing and

knew he wouldn’t get caught.

Despite how hard we tried to fight it, all of

those things happened between us because our

feelings for each other are becoming so much

stronger than our desire. Desire is easy to fight.

Especially when the only weapon desire pos-

sesses is attraction.

It’s not so easy when you’re trying to win a

war against the heart.

? ? ?

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The house has been quiet since I woke up more

than an hour ago. The more I lie here and allow

myself to think about what happened, the less I

want to face him. I know if we don’t get it over

with, the confrontation will only be harder the

longer we wait.

I reluctantly get dressed and head to the bath-

room to brush my teeth. His bedroom is quiet,

and he usually has late nights that result in late

mornings, so I decide to let him sleep. I’ll wait it

out in the living room. I hope Warren and Brid-

gette are either occupied with each other in a bed

somewhere or still asleep, because I don’t know

if I can take either of them this morning.

I open the door and walk into the living room.

I pause.

Turn around, Sydney. Turn around and go

back to your room.

Ridge is standing at the bar. However, it isn’t

the sight of Ridge that’s rendered me completely

immobile. It’s the girl he has his arms around.

It’s the girl he’s pressed against. It’s the girl he’s 330/692

looking directly at, as if she’s the only thing that

has, does, and will ever matter to him. It’s the

girl who planted herself between me and my

maybe someday.

Warren exits his bedroom and sees them stand-

ing together in the kitchen. “Hey, Maggie. I

thought you weren’t coming for a couple more

weeks.”

Maggie spins around at the sound of Warren’s

voice. Ridge’s eyes move from Maggie over to

me. His body tenses, and he stands up straighter,

putting a slight distance between the two of them.

I’m still immobile, or I’d be putting distance

between myself and all three of them.

“I’m about to leave,” Maggie says, and signs

simultaneously, facing Warren. Ridge steps away

from her, then quickly breaks his gaze from mine

and refocuses his attention on Maggie. “My

grandfather was admitted to the hospital yester-

day. I got here last night.” She turns and gives

Ridge a light peck on the lips, then heads for the

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front door. “It’s nothing serious, but I’m staying

with him until they release him tomorrow.”

“Oh, man. Sorry about that,” Warren says.

“But you’ll be here the weekend of my party,

right?”

Party?

Maggie nods and takes a step back toward

Ridge. She circles her arms around his neck, and

he wraps his arms around her waist—two simple

movements that completely shatter entire sec-

tions of my heart.

He rests his mouth against hers and closes his

eyes. He brings his hands to her face, then pulls

back and leans in again to kiss her on the tip of

her nose.

Ouch.

Maggie exits the apartment without ever hav-

ing noticed that I was standing here. Ridge closes

the door behind her, turns around, and brings his

eyes back to mine with an unreadable expression.

“What are we doing today?” Warren asks,

moving his head back and forth between Ridge

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and me. Neither of us breaks our stare to respond

to him. After several seconds, Ridge makes the

slightest movement with his eyes, motioning to-

ward his bedroom. He turns to Warren and signs

something, and I walk back to my room.

It’s amazing how many reminders I’ve had to

give my organs in the last three minutes that

should be basic, common knowledge.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Contract, expand.

Beat, beat, pause. Beat, beat, pause.

Inhale, exhale.

I walk to the bathroom and head for Ridge’s

bedroom. It was obvious he wants to talk, and I

still think confronting it now is better than wait-

ing. It’s definitely better than not confronting it at all.

The journey across the bathroom is only a few

feet and should take no longer than a few

seconds, but I somehow stretch it out for five

whole minutes. I place a nervous hand on his

doorknob, then open it and walk into his room.

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He’s walking in at the same time as I’m clos-

ing the door to the bathroom. We pause and stare

at each other. These staredowns are going to have

to end, because my heart can’t take much more.