Maybe Someday(73)

breathe.

He’s holding me now as if I’m a part of

him—a wounded extension of his heart—and

he’s realizing just how much that extension needs

to be severed.

We stand like this for several minutes, and I

begin to get lost in the way he’s wrapped himself

around me. The way he’s holding me gives me a

glimpse of what things could be like between us.

I try to push those two little words into the back

of my head, the two words that always inch their

way forward when we’re together.

Maybe someday.

The sound of keys hitting a counter behind me

jerks me to attention. I pull back, and Ridge does

413/692

the same as soon as he feels my body flinch

against his. He looks over my shoulder and to-

ward the kitchen, so I spin around. Warren has

just walked through the front door. His back is

toward us, and he’s slipping off his shoes.

“I’m only going to say this once, and I need

you to listen,” Warren says. He still isn’t facing

us, but I’m the only one in the apartment who can

hear him, so I know he’s directing his comment

to me. “He will never leave her, Sydney.”

He walks to his bedroom without once looking

over his shoulder, leaving Ridge to believe he

never even saw us. The door to Warren’s bed-

room closes, and I turn back to face Ridge. His

eyes are still on Warren’s door. When they flick

back to mine, they’re full of so many things I

know he wishes he could say.

But he doesn’t. He just turns and walks into his

room, closing the door behind him.

I remain completely motionless as two huge

tears spill from my eyes, scarring their way down

my cheeks in a trail of shame.

Ridge

Brennan: Gotta love rain. Looks like I’ll be

there early. I’m coming alone, though.

The guys can’t make it.

Me: See you when you get here. Oh, and

before you leave tomorrow, make sure

you get all your shit out of Sydney’s

room.

Brennan: Will she be there? Do I finally

get to meet the girl who was brought to

this earth for us?

Me: Yeah, she’ll be here.

Brennan: I can’t believe I’ve never asked

this, but is she hot?

Oh, no.

415/692

Me: Don’t even think about it. She’s been

through too much shit to be added to your

list of concubines.

Brennan: Territorial, are we?

I toss my phone onto the bed and don’t even

bother with a reply. If I make her too off-limits to

him, it’ll just make him try that much harder with

her.

When she made the joke last night about

screwing him, she was just trying to add humor

to the seriousness of the situation, but the way

her text made me feel terrified me.

It wasn’t the fact that she texted about hooking

up with someone. What terrified me was my

knee-jerk reaction. I wanted to throw my phone

against the wall and smash it into a million

pieces, then throw her against the wall and show her all the ways I could ensure that she never

thinks about another man again.

I didn’t like feeling that way. I probably

should encourage Brennan. Maybe it would be

416/692

better for my relationship with Maggie if Sydney

actually started dating someone else.

Whoa.

The wave of jealousy that just rolled over me

felt more like a tsunami.

I walk out of my bedroom and head to the kit-

chen to help Sydney get things together for din-

ner before everyone gets here. I pause when I see

her bent over, rummaging through the contents of

the refrigerator. She’s wearing the blue dress

again.

I hate it when Warren is right. My eyes slowly

scroll from the dress, down her tanned legs, and

back up again. I exhale and contemplate asking

her to go change. I’m not sure I can deal with this

tonight. Especially when Maggie gets here.

Sydney straightens up, pulls away from the re-

frigerator, and turns toward the counter. I notice

she’s talking, but she isn’t talking to me. She

pulls a bowl out of the refrigerator, and her

mouth is still moving, so naturally, my eyes scan

417/692

the rest of the apartment to see who it is she’s

talking to.

And that’s when both halves of my

heart—which were somehow still connected by a

small, invisible fiber—snap apart and separate

completely.

Maggie is standing in front of the bathroom

door, eyeing me hard. I can’t read her expression,

because it’s not one I’ve ever been exposed to

before. The half of my heart that belongs to her

immediately begins to panic.

Look innocent, Ridge. Look innocent. All you