He could tell from her trembling voice that she was crying and he turned around again.
“Please, Tyler. I just want to talk. Please.”
Tears and begging. He caved almost immediately. “Okay.”
*****
Well, that was a colossal waste of time.
He’d spent half an hour having coffee with Trisha and she just kept on telling him the same thing. She’d felt that he was emotionally detached from their relationship. And while he could acknowledge that it was a trait of his that wasn’t easy to deal with, he still felt like she could have handled the situation better. It was a running loop of excuses as to why she left without a word. There were other things she wanted to discuss, but he didn’t want to waste any more time on the matter.
Also the entire situation was uncomfortable. He was having coffee with his ex-girlfriend while his current girlfriend was waiting for him at home. It was all kinds of wrong and no amount of tears would have made him entertain it for a second longer. After half an hour, he stood up, paid the bill and walked out.
He went to his penthouse, had a shower, and then drove over to Jordan’s place. He knocked on the door and his mood lifted the second she opened it. “Hi,” he said with a broad smile.
One eyebrow cocked up. “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you for over an hour.”
He debated whether or not he should tell her about Trisha, but he really wasn’t in the mood to rehash everything that had happened. Maybe he’d tell her in a couple days, but right now he just wanted a weightless conversation about something mundane and meaningless. He just wanted to sit on the couch and watch that stupid Soap Opera and argue about Abby’s baby-daddy. In other words, he just wanted to be with Jordan. “Sorry. I had some errands to run.”
She stepped aside and allowed him to enter.
“What did you do today?” he asked, walking over to the sofa.
“I had an early dinner with Gemma and Neil and then she went over to Matt’s place and Neil started chatting up the waiter.” She giggled and shook her head. “So I came home, tookRoscoe for a walk and then I just watched TV while I waited for you.” She sat down beside him. “How about you?”
He shrugged. “Didn’t do much. Saw my dad after work, went for a run.”
“You want something to drink?” she asked, standing up and walking to the kitchen.
“No, I’m good. Thanks.”
She must have picked up something was wrong. This conversation didn’t seem normal. It felt stilted and he needed to make an active effort to not dwell on the heated discussion he’d had with Trisha. He followed her into the kitchen and leaned against the fridge as he watched her make a cup of coffee.
“So I was thinking,” Jordan said, switching on the kettle. “We should have a picnic. Not today obviously, ’cause it’s raining, but there’s this beautiful spot at the park with this big tree and…you know that big tree, right?”
He smiled. “There’s a lot of big trees in the park, Jordan.”
“I know, but there’s that one…um…it’s near the entrance…quite close to the swings.”
He shook his head. “Still not narrowing it down.”
“Oh, c’mon. You must know it…that big tree…right near the entrance…” The oddest expression came over her face, so odd he started feeling like everything was unravelling. “You know that one…where you were telling Trisha that you were just using me to get her back?” A cold stare pinned him to the spot. “Yeah…that tree.”
His heart skipped a few beats before it dropped straight into his stomach. He couldn’t even find the words to say to her. His mind was a complete blank.
“You were just using me, Tyler?” Her voice was low, tremulous. “All this time, you were just using me to get her back?”
“I didn’t use you,” he said quickly.
Blue-gray eyes met his, filled with so much disappointment, he couldn’t hold her gaze. “Youdidn’tuse me? Why did you take me to Giovanni’s? Why did you take me to the dance festival?”
“Jordan—”
“Those were the placessheliked, right?”
Panic was eating him inside and he was fumbling to find the right words to explain his actions. “That’s how it started out. But it was two dates and that’s it.”
“That’s it?” she asked with disdain. “You sure, Tyler?”
