She looks at me for a beat before saying, “Look, I get that you're scared to have your heart broken, and there’s a lot of history there, but… why not just remove the rules for now? The game changed. You’re no longer friends who grab lunch on Tuesdays.” She gathers her trash. “You live together. You’re married. Can’t you be open to the idea of just seeing where this goes? Let yourself have some fun.”
I toss my napkin in my empty bowl. “But will it still be fun whenI’m starting over again, only it’s harder because I slept with the guy I care about?”
She shrugs. “That’s life, isn’t it? We don’t really know how it’s going to turn out. But damn, I’d sure be kicking my ass if I didn’t try to make things work with the guy who loved me.”
“Sabrina, it’s not like that. He…” I trail off because I don’t know how to respond.
He what?
He loves me, but not like that?
He loves me, but doesn’t say it?
She stands. “I think that’s exactly what it’s like.” She pauses, then adds, “I have to get back. Enjoy your time with Matt.”
I stand, meeting her in a hug.
“Just fuck him already,” she whispers in my ear with a laugh.
“Shut up,” I laugh out.
“Bye,” she says in a sing-song voice.
“Bye.”
Twenty-five minutes later,I’m in the elevator of Matt’s building with three different sushi rolls in a bag.
We’ve been texting all day. It seems like he’s had an extra busy and stressful day with back-to-back meetings. Apparently, there was a problem with one of the Switzerland deal documents too. Which—and I quote—has made it an absolute clusterfuck of a day.
I know he won’t get away for lunch. Which is fine—Matt has a chef he orders premade meals from for some of his lunches and dinners. But sushi? It’s easy to eat at a desk, and doesn’t need to be heated.
I reach the seventeenth floor and walk down the hall to the glass double doors that haveMatthew Graysonprinted on them. I pull them open and walk inside, only to be greeted by the one and only twenty-something-year-old Harper.
She was such a joy the first time I met her. I can’t wait to see what fresh hell she has in store for me today.
“Hi,” she says with a smile, looking up from her computer. The smile falls the second she sees me. “How can I help you?”
“Hi, Harper,” I say, forcing a smile and some cheer into my voice. “I’m here to see Matt. I have some food to drop off for him.”
“Oh. You can just leave it here, and I’ll take it back to him in a few minutes.”
What the hell?
She turns back to her computer, clicking away.
Does she really think I’m just going to leave it here?
“No. I think I’d like to take it back to him, if that’s okay.”
“He’s in a meeting.” She doesn’t so much as glance at me.
“In person or on the phone?” I ask. Because if he’s with someone, fine. But if he’s on the phone, I know he’d be more than okay with me coming back there. He’d want me to.
She huffs out a breath of annoyance, finally looking up. “He’s on a call. But like I said the first time, I’ll take it back to him as soon as he’s available. He doesn’t like to be bothered when he’s in a meeting.”
I know what this is. And I’m not playing this game with her.
“That’s fine. I’ll just text him. Let him know I’m here.”
