Playing It Safe(80)

“I’m going home, Darren,” I choke out to him and start my car. “I’ll be fine.”

“No you’re not. Please don’t leave like this.”

“I’ll call you, okay?” I say, my voice starting to crack.

After a few beats, he relents. “Okay. Take care of yourself. And Jules?”

“Yeah?”

“Love you.”

“Love you too, Darren.”

I watch him step aside and move to stand on the curb so I can pull into traffic. The whole drive home I’m thinking that I shouldn’t have anyone to blame for this but myself. I knew it was too good to be true. He was probably just better at hiding it, and I was only too eager and willing not to see it. I really pulled the wool over my own damn eyes, and it was right there in front of me all along. Aiden was actually right, and I chose not to believe him.

What kind of world is this when that * ends up being the good guy?

Because that right there might be the very first sign of the apocalypse.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I lock the front door behind me and slide down until my ass hits the hardwood floor. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is when I officially lose it. I wrap my arms around my knees and cry myself into a stupor. I curse myself for giving him a chance, for giving us and even love a chance. It always comes back to bite me in the ass, and I don’t know why I even bother anymore.

This pity party of one goes on for a solid ten to fifteen minutes. It’s interrupted by the sound of a car door slamming outside and way too close to think anything other than it being in my driveway.

Dammit, Darren is checking up on me even after I told him I’d be fine. Which I totally am not, but he doesn’t need to know that.

His light knocking on my door gets me to stand up off the floor and peek through the peephole. To my surprise and absolute non-delight, it’s Alex.

This guy cannot be serious right now.

“Go home, Alex,” I shout through the door.

“Open the door, Julia,” he calmly says. “We need to talk.”

I rest my forehead against the cool wood and answer him. “There’s nothing to talk about. Please, just go home.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Fine, have it your way,” I say, my voice cracking slightly. “Have fun sleeping in your car.”

I peek through again to see him link his fingers behind his head and pace back and forth a few times. He stops suddenly and puts his hand on the door. I mirror him on my side as if we were having a prison visit.

I know, super cheesy. But when your heart is breaking, you tend to do shit that you would never do. Not in a million years.

“Julia, please … open the door.”

The soft tone of his voice somehow breaks through to me even though I vowed to myself while crying on the floor a few minutes ago that I didn’t want to see or talk to him again. So I undo the chain and turn the locks but don’t open the door. I scurry off to sit on the couch with my arms wrapped around my knees.

“It’s open,” I yell out to him.

I watch as the knob turns and Alex appears in my foyer, closing the door behind him. He silently walks over to where I am and sits beside me. Leaning forward, he puts his elbows on his knees and rests his head in his hands.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lied to you.”

“Why did you then?” Then I quickly add, “Not that it matters anymore.”

He turns his cheek to face me. “Because I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

“Wouldn’t understand what exactly? That you were going on another date with that … that girl? You’re right, I don’t understand.”

“It’s not what you think.” He quietly breathes out. “It wasn’t a date.”

“Alex, I’m not f*cking stupid. I saw you holding hands with her, remember?”

“No you didn’t.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” My voice is almost screeching. “I saw you with my own eyes.”

“No, you saw her reach over and grab my hand. What you didn’t see was my expression or hear what I was telling her as a result, which is what I’m trying to explain to you.”

“By all means, go ahead.”

“She did come on to me, but I told her I had a girlfriend and I would appreciate if she respected that.”

I laugh out loud. I can’t help it, it’s that goddamn funny. “You’re joking, right?”

“Not at all.”

“Okay, let’s assume for a moment that you’re telling me the truth about that.”

“I am.”

I shoot him a look, letting him know that he really need not interrupt me because it only pisses me off more than I already am. “Fine, whatever. Why were you out with her to begin with?”

He runs his hands through his hair again, some of it falling onto his forehead. With a long sigh he leans back and rests his head on the back of the couch. “She’s been calling and calling me since Josie’s party, and I was ignoring it until today when I decided enough was enough. So I called her to let her know we needed to talk. I swear I was telling her about us—that we’re together and that she needs to move on with her life already.”