But given his wealth, he probably has a hot young girlfriend. Some supermodel. Does Nicholas have feelings for her? Is it some kind of unrequited love?
“But she’s old,” Georgia says.
“Some men like older women,” I say glumly.
Georgia shakes her head. “Uh-uh. Like she-gets-the-senior-discount old.”
Okay, maybe notthatold. “So Nicholas wouldn’t have any feeling for her?”
She almost spews the whiskey. She chokes, then gasps. “No!” She shoves a piece of chocolate into her mouth. “Not the kind of feelings he has for you! He’s crazy about you.”
My shoulders sag with a sad, reluctant laugh over how unrealistic and dramatic she’s being. It’s that or cry, and tears won’t fix anything or soothe the pain in my heart. “Then why did he get so angry with me?”
“Tell me what happened. Your texts, uh, kind of didn’t make a lot of sense.” She makes a gimme motion with her fingers.
So I tell her everything, including my interaction with Noah, so she can get the full picture.
When I’m done, she sighs. Then shakes her head and sighs again. “Molly, I love you, but you really screwed up.”
I’ve never thought I was a particularly stupid person, but I feel stupid now. “Buthow? How did I screw up?”
“Didn’t you hear what I told you when I dropped you off? Or what Nicholas said?”
“I didn’t need him for the ride because I had you.”
“Argh!No!Hewantedto give you that ride. It’s hisjob as your boyfriend.”
“But he could’ve been in a meeting he couldn’t cancel.”
“Pfft.Anymeeting can be cancelled. And no business thing is more important than you.”
I have my doubts, But Georgia’s giving me that stubborn look, so I’d better just go along. “Okay…?”
She studies my face, then shakes her head. “You really don’t get it, do you?” She breathes in and out slowly. “Look, here’s the deal. Your exes were pretty shitty, okay? Not exactly shining examples of men in love. They were also stupid as hell because they didn’t realize you’re a diamond of a girl. But listen. When you’re in love with someone, you always want to let them know—first—when something happens.Always.It could be something good or it could be something bad. But you always want to celebrate with them first if it’s good, or have them comfort you before anybody else if it’s bad.”
“Okay, well… If it’s something good, fine. I mean, maybe. Depending. But I just don’t feel comfortablebotheringhim. What if he gets tired of me imposing? Or gets annoyed because he can’t, like, do something he wants to do because of me? Or there’s an accident on the way?”
She squints. “An accident on the way?”
“Yeah, on the way to get me. One that he wouldn’t have been in if I hadn’t asked him for a ride.”
Georgia shakes her head slowly. “Do you want to be the last one to know if something happened to Nicholas? Let’s say…he got hit by a car.”
I wince inwardly. Just the idea sends cold shivers into my gut despite the whiskey.
“Which, by the way, has nothing to do with you! People get hit by cars all the time. Or maybe he fell into a ditch because he wasn’t paying attention. Accidents happen. But let’s just say something happens to him.”
“Okay.”
“Everyone hears about it and helps him out. Like driving him to the hospital or buying him groceries or whatever. But he makes sure you don’t find out about it because he doesn’t want totrouble you. He thinks you havebetter things todo than care for him. Is that how you want your relationship to be?”
“No…” I blink as a realization dawns on me. I’ve never thought it was a bother when people I cared about asked me for help. As a matter of fact, I appreciated that they reached out, so I could be there for them.
I cut Nicholas out by prioritizing everything but his need to be there for me. And ever since I moved in here, he’s been nothing but patient, affectionate and caring…
“He doesn’t want you to call himlater, Molly. He wants to be your first dial—always. Trust me, if he gets hit by a car, the first thing going through his mind is going to be you, and the last thing going through his mind is going to be you.” She presses her hands against my cheeks and holds my head. “Now do you get it?”
“Yes.” And I do.
