I can’t put it off any longer.
“Neither. You actually don’t need to come back. At least not to see me.”
She’d rather he never set foot in town again, but since he owned not only a home but the building she lived in, he was bound to visit occasionally.
“Is this the opening to a joke? Because if it is, it’s not funny.”
The confusion she heard left her wishing she’d sent him a text message ending things instead.
“It’s not a joke, Matt.”
Silence followed her answer, and she wondered if he’d hung up.
“What’s going on? We were making plans to go away yesterday, and now you don’t want to see me.”
“Nothing. I just don’t want to see you again.”
“Something happened, and I deserve to know what.”
She’d debated telling him she knew about the other women. Ultimately, the voice that kept telling her Phoebe and Emma might be right convinced her to just end things without accusing him of cheating. The anger coming from him now had her reconsidering her decision. After all, she wasn’t the one who’d been photographed with other people.
“Fine. I saw the pictures, Matt. So maybe you’re the one who owes me an explanation.”
“Liv, I already told you that was my cousin’s wife.”
“And I’m sure the woman you danced with and the one you were seen with on Sunday were also married to your cousins. And I must have missed the announcement. Which one of your cousins married Jasmine Locke?”
“I don’t know what pictures you saw, but I can explain.”
So he intended to play dumb.
“Even if you can, there’s no point. You would’ve eventually gotten bored here with me. I’m just saving us some time.”
“Damn it, will you listen to me? I haven’t been with anyone else. And yeah, I saw Jasmine the other night, but she just sat down. I didn’t ask her to join me.”
That photo is a single moment. Phoebe’s words repeated in her head. But so what if it was. Ending this now was better than waiting for him to do it in a few months.
“Goodbye, Matt.”
The dam holding back her tears broke as she put the phone down.
I did the right thing.
Maybe if she told herself that a few hundred times, she’d believe it.
Matt snagged the first empty spot he saw and once again wondered why he’d listened to his brother last night. If he’d changed his departure time and left last night as soon as a crew could get to the airport, he would’ve gotten here hours ago, before Liv even had her first coffee. But no, he’d listened to Aiden, who insisted it was better to wait so he wasn’t angry when he confronted Liv. He’d also pointed out that if he waited, he could use the time to figure out what pictures Liv was talking about and find a way to prove they weren’t what she thought.
It hadn’t taken them long to solve that mystery. Unfortunately, waiting hadn’t lessened his anger. If anything, it was worse, only now it wasn’t all directed at Liv. The photos on Eclipse’s CHAT fan page and the Star Insider website looked bad. He couldn’t deny that, but he deserved a chance to tell her the truth.
More than one person walking by looked his way as he stood there deciding where to try first. At almost five o’clock, she could be anywhere, including the restaurant. If she was covering a shift there, he’d have to wait until she finished.
A few raindrops hit him as he passed Fireside Pizzeria, and by the time he reached Ocean View Catering, what was supposed to be a gentle shower had turned into a downpour. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the door to the catering company was locked and all the lights inside were off.
Why did I listen to you, Aiden?
With the dinner rush starting, it was pointless to check the restaurant, so Matt walked around to the back, to the entrance to the apartments upstairs. If Liv wasn’t home, he’d wait for her.
Even though her car was in its usual spot, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she wasn’t home. However, he wasn’t prepared to see a man standing outside her door. Although he couldn’t see his face, the man’s height and hair color ruled out Liv’s brother.
