No, she wouldn’t be a coward and run away. Eventually, the sight of him wouldn’t affect her as acutely. Someday.
Destiny almost dropped the eggs when there was a knock at the door. Who could that be? Only two people came to mind that would be knocking on her door. Grandma or Mike. The likelihood it was her grandma was slim to none. She would have called first. That could only leave Mike. That man was as stubborn as a mule. He didn’t get the hint when she told him to leave.
Setting the eggs on the counter, Destiny marched across the hardwood floor for the door. “Mike, I told you to leave me alone—oh,” she gasped when she tore open the door to see a woman standing there instead of Mike. A woman she recognized but never thought she’d see again. “Cora, sorry I thought you were—”
“Mike,” she finished for her with a grin. “I guessed as much.”
“Sorry about that. What are you doing here?” Her gaze darted around outside expecting to see Mike lurking somewhere close by.
“It’s just me,” Cora said as if she knew what Destiny was looking for. “He doesn’t know I’m here.”
“Not to be rude, but why are you here?”
“Liam told me about their conversation with him earlier and I had a feeling he would botch it. All the men are terrible with words,” she whispered the last sentence and rolled her eyes.
Destiny had to agree. Mike really did not have a way with words. As nice and sincere as his apology was it didn’t give her much hope of a reconciliation. He never said why he did it or offer to introduce her to his friends. “Mike talked about me?” She found that surprising since apparently no one knew she existed until this week, and she’d known Mike for months.
“He did.” Her smile was warm and inviting. “Do you mind if I come in and we can talk?”
Where were her manners? Her grandma would be so disappointed in her. “Of course, sorry.” Destiny stepped back to let Cora in. “I just went shopping so I can make some tea, or I have water.”
“I’m fine, but thank you,” Cora said coming inside. Her eyes roamed around the spacious room. “This is beautiful. Warm and cozy.”
“Thank you.” She ducked her head in embarrassment. Her grandma hired someone to decorate it, but she’d take the credit since all the designs had been by her approval. “So you wanted to talk,” she prompted. Destiny liked Cora, but she didn’t want his friend trying to bully her into getting back with him.
Cora took a seat on the couch and looked at her pointedly. “Straight to the point, I like that. I know you’re angry with him and you have every right to be. He hurt you by keeping your relationship a secret.”
Destiny took a seat in the chair across from Cora. It was a small room with only the couch, chair, coffee table and television. She didn’t need much since it was just her. The chair she was sitting on had been a splurge. It was wide and plush. She’d fallen asleep in it a time or two. “It was a friendship more than anything.” She kept her tone casual, not wanting to give away how much it hurt.
“You don’t have to be nonchalant with me. I know how you feel. You see, Liam kept a secret from me when we were together, and it was why we broke up.”
“June.” Destiny had already heard about all this. Meeting the woman in the flesh now though made the story that much more real. She could see the pain in Cora’s eyes when she spoke. It still affected her even years later.
Destiny couldn’t help but wonder if she would be like that. Years later speaking about Mike and still feeling the acute pain of it.
“Yes,” Cora spoke softly then looked at her with a sad smile. “I guess you do know about all of us.”
“Mike told me about everyone.” He just refused to introduce them to each other.
“I can only imagine how angry it would make you, knowing about us but never knowing us.”
Destiny looked down at her clenched hands in her lap. It was nice having someone to talk to about this. It felt weird talking to her grandma about men. Of course it was Grandma’s urging that had her here. She couldn’t trust her opinion right now. She felt like she had an instant friend in Cora. It helped she knew Mike well and could give her a more honest opinion. “It was frustrating.” That was putting it mildly. It hadn’t bothered her as much until they officially decided to date.
“I can’t tell you why he did it, only he can. But I do know he’s sorry he hurt you and he loves you.”
Destiny’s heart stuttered. What did Cora say? She looked up at her, sure she was hearing things. Cora gave her a toothy grin and nodded. “It’s true. I’ve known Mike for years and I’ve never seen him so happy. He’s been secretive the past few months, but I think it was because he wanted you all to himself. There’s been a lot of drama and issues in our group, and I think he was trying to shield you from that. He’s also terribly shy and soft-spoken. When the guys go to the bars, Mike likes to stick to the shadows and let guys like Ben and Liam steal the spotlight. He’s been hurt by women.”
Cora’s face turned angry, Destiny concurred. Mike had told her how women placed bets to see if they could get him to sleep with them. Seeing if his dick was as big as the rest of him. He was just a conquest, nothing more. They didn’t know him like she did, nor did they care to.
“Since he doesn’t have much experience with the fairer sex besides us, which isn’t much since he’s not really a talker, I’m afraid he didn’t realize what he was doing was wrong.”
That explained a lot, but still. “It just felt like all he wanted from me was sex.” Destiny drew her knees up to her chest feeling vulnerable. She’d never really had girlfriends to talk to about his kind of stuff. Cora was as close to a friend as she had. She was easy to talk to, but this was still personal stuff they were talking about. “It’s hard to believe he loved me when he didn’t even want me to come to the barbeque. He just wanted to keep me tucked away.”
“I don’t know all the details, what did he say when you brought up the barbeque?”
“That it was boring and he’d rather we stay in and be alone. He admitted today he was being selfish.”
Cora smiled ruefully. “It’s a trait amongst these men. They are on top of their game saving the world, but when it comes to their women, they are clueless.”
