“Are you sure? I’m not saying I’m not good,” I chuckled. “But I just took over New York. Seems a little early.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Will rolled his eyes.” You’ve been here your entire career. And you’ve only been in New York a short time, and they’re already talking about moving you guys in to a bigger office. Plus, no one works as hard as you. You make us all look bad.”
“Well, thank you. I’ll take all of that as a compliment.” I scrubbed a hand down my face as I stifled a yawn. “I guess if I want good intel, I should come to you since you have an in.”
“An in?” His brows drew together.
“I saw the glint in your eye when you said Kerri’s name.”
“Ugh,” he groaned, scrunching his nose in disgust. “Just because you’re all happy and domestic, don’t project that shit on me.”
I pushed his hand away when he tried to leave cash on the bar. “I got it. And I am going to call it a night so I can FaceTime with my girl.” I threw two twenties onto the bar. “See you on the green tomorrow.”
“Don’t remind me.” A smirk curled the side of his lip. “Thanks for coming out. I miss giving you shit. Not the same over video.”
“Same, man. You should come see us in New York. We could all double date.”
I cracked up when he shot me a glare over his shoulder as we stepped outside. As Will headed to his car, I went to the corner to make my way to the hotel entrance, rubbing at my eyes. I hoped to be able to keep them open enough not to pass out on Julie tonight.
“Landon? I thought that was you.”
I turned to a familiar, pixie-like voice. I’d placed it right as I spotted Shayla behind me, a wistful smile curving her lips when her gaze slid to mine.
“It’s me,” I said, stuffing my hand in my pocket. It had been five years since I’d last run into her, but she looked exactly the same. Long blond hair brushing her petite shoulders, the simple yet fancy black dress hugging her slender frame. Her head barely cleared my shoulders, but when I studied her from half a block away, she seemed even smaller.
She was still beautiful, but although I had been married to her at one time, I felt nothing for her now. There was no bitterness or nostalgia, only regret. Shayla shouldn’t have cheated, but she’d never compared to Julie for me. And while I hadn’t realized that consciously at the time, I was sure part of her had always known.
And just like that, all the anger festering for her all those years evaporated into a dull guilt over what my oversight had done to both of us.
“I’m surprised to see you,” she said, crossing her arms over her torso and taking a tentative step toward me. “I heard you moved to New York.”
“I did,” I said, sticking to my part of the sidewalk. “I’m back for some meetings this week.”
“I heard you got married too.” Her lips curved up. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” I nodded as I tried to figure out how she could have found out. Any mutual friends we’d had after we split I’d lost touch with, but I was sure word of me getting married ripped through everyone we knew as soon as my coworkers found out. This city and industry were borderline incestuous when it came to degrees of separation.
“It’s Julie, right? Who you married.”
“Is that what you heard?” I asked, now taking a step closer.
“No,” she chuckled. “But I figured, and I’m not surprised. I’m happy for you. You deserve to be happy.”
A smile snuck across my mouth as I made my way over to her.
“Thank you. I truly appreciate that. You look great. Everything is good?”
“It is,” she told me with a slow nod. “I met my friend Kerri for drinks. She just started at NameTech a few weeks ago. I spotted you leaving, and I wanted to come say hi.”
And there was the link. I never cared if anyone found out, but our marriage wasn’t the ruse for functional purposes that we’d written it off as at the beginning. I’d make it officially real when I went home, but whenever my mind drifted to Julie, I already considered her my wife. Shayla had been my wife before I’d realized the weight of the word and what it was supposed to mean.
“I’m glad you did,” I said as I stepped closer. “Take care of yourself.”
She leaned in, hesitating for a second before brushing a light kiss on my cheek. Marrying Julie wasn’t just a solution. It was what was always supposed to happen. With that realization, I could let the missteps of the past go—both Shayla’s and mine. We’d been two kids with good intentions who didn’t know how to make sense of a reality that wasn’t meant for us.
“You too,” I said, pressing a kiss to her temple. I caught the curve of a sad smile as I pulled away and shifted back toward the hotel.
I went through the hotel entrance and blew out a long breath as a surprising relief filtered through me. My marriage to Shayla had been years ago and didn’t last very long, but the remnants of it had weighed on me more than I’d realized. I’d thought what had happened with us had soured me on all things marriage and commitment, but now that I was content in the present with the person I was always supposed to be with, it was easier to let the past go.
