I stare at his profile, waiting for his math to make sense. He can’t possibly think Bri was still his girl, considering he posted that sonogram picture the next day. Or, what? Did he break it off with the side piece the same week?
My lip twitches toward a sneer at the mere thought of him claiming Bri in any way. “That sucks,” I say. “What happened?”
One of his shoulders raises in a shrug. “You know how it goes. Sometimes you don’t know you have a good thing ’til you go andruin it.”
The opportunity stares me in the face until I take it. “How’d you ruin it?”
His gaze falls, a flicker of remorse crossing his face, then he looks back at me with a practiced finance bro sales smile. “That’s a long story, tech guy.”
Don’t say it. Don’t say—“I have time.”
He laughs before taking a swig from his tumbler. “I thought I was missing something, but when I went looking for it, I realized I had everything I needed all along. And now I have nothing.”
Briiseverything, I get it, but now he hasnothing? Be so fucking for real.
What happened with the other woman and his baby? Did something happen, or does he not care? Even though I wish him the worst, I hope he didn’t have to go through what I did with Natalie. More specifically, I hope his side piece didn’t have to go through that. David doesn’t seem to give a shit about either one of them if he’s still this caught up on Bri.
“Do you think she’s the one? Your girl. What’s her name?” he asks, giving me one hell of an opportunity to ruin his night.
Bri doesn’t need me to defend her honor or get revenge by making him jealous, but after months of having to see this asshole, I want this for me.Fuck it.
“Bri,” I say, then add an extra nail in his coffin. “Short for Ambrielle.”
David’s chin lifts; whatever trace of amusement he had is gone from his face. “That’s a unique name.”
“It is. She’s amazing. Smart, sexy, kind. She’s . . . everything.” Nondescript yet true. I think of something worse to say to piss him off more. “It’s too soon to know for sure, obviously, but I feel like she’s it for me. She’s the kind of woman you’d be stupid to let go.”
The muscles in his jaw twitch. He’smadmad.
David fumes in silence. Finally, an interaction with him I won’t be afraid to share with Bri. Telling her how I made him jealous will lessen the blow of admitting how long I’ve been avoiding telling her at all.
“I should stop being antisocial now. It was great seeing you again,” I lie one last time.
“Same,” he mutters. His face says the opposite. “Tell BriI said hi.”
Don’t worry, I won’t.
Eighteen
Bri
Liem came home after I had already gone to bed. I stayed up as long as I could before I needed to call it a night and get rested up for my morning appointments. Hitting pause on our conversation yet again has me on edge.
I keep looking at the pictures we took in the park. The first two are me twirling with the movie screen in the background. The next,his gorgeous smile while I kiss his cheek. Then us grinning at each other the way we always do—that quiet yet visible underlying attraction I have for him. And the last one . . .
We’re lip-locked, his arm still around my neck, his hand hanging in the perfect location to cover our mouths from view.
If we’re “just friends,” we don’t look it in the pictures. We look too comfortable. Too intimate. Those aren’t prompted smiles for the camera. I’m happy, genuinely laughing, and we don’t need to talk about the way I’m pulling him closer while we kiss. That explains why it didn’t end when the pictures did.
I stare at the last image, feeling his kiss all over again. Remembering his body on top of mine, warming to the thought of what happened after and craving to feel even more of him.
It meant nothing, surely. Two lonely people getting carried away—mostly me and my touch-starved body taking over. I worry I pressured him into it, but it washissuggestion to move forward after we stopped, it was the wayhetouched me that pulled me back in . . . and it’s hard to not overthink that.
Returning to regularly scheduled programming, I’m getting back to the money, focusing on my appointments and what I’m really here to do. The longer I stay with Liem, the harder it will be to leave him.
Temporary is meant to stay temporary, but he pulls me in so easily, so utterly haphazardly, making me rethink my decision to stay single until I’m able to support myself on my own. Boy makes a salary I could only dream of achieving in my lifetime, and he would throw it my way if I ever gave him the chance. Luckily for us both, he respects boundaries like they’re his grandmother. Too bad he doesn’tsetboundaries with the same fervor.
I don’t want his money. I also don’t want to leave him.
