AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’d only managed to grab a protein shake as he headed out the door, and that had been hours ago. He was starving for real food, and this was exactly what he needed.
“You seem like a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so I took my chances,” she said with a smirk as she stabbed her fork into her salad.
“You guessed right.” He took another bite, wiping his mouth with a paper napkin from the bag. “So, I got an interesting group text from the guys today.”
“Oh, yeah?” she asked, stabbing more of her salad with a fork and bringing it to her mouth.
He tried to stay on his train of thought instead of the way her tongue peeked out as she took her bite of salad. “Yeah, they all know about us.”
Skylar coughed, choking on her lettuce. “They do?”
“Yup. Travis and his big mouth put it out there for everyone. Zach said he already knew but at least had the decency to keep it quiet.”
“So, Brody knows?” Skylar asked, eyes wide as she placed her salad on the desk.
“Yup.” He picked up a fry, dunked it in his ketchup and shoved it in his mouth.
“Ugh, that means Kade knows now.” She grabbed her purse and searched through it until she found her phone, her eyebrows scrunched together as she scrolled through the screen. “Yup, she knows. I have a million missed texts and calls.”
“They asked us to go to the brewery tonight to do whatever they want to do.” Dyllan popped another fry in his mouth as he studied her. A blush fanned her cheeks as she scrolled through her phone, eyebrows getting more and more drawn together the more she read. “Stop worrying. It’s fine.”
“It’s fine,” she huffed. “How is this fine? I didn’t want her to find out this close to her wedding and I certainly didn’t want her to find out like this!”
“Hey,” he said as he stood and rounded his desk, kneeling in front of her. “She’s going to be happy for you. Shocked at first, but happy.”
“I know, but…” Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him. “I knew this would happen when Lila cornered me today and made me tell her why I was at your place.” She looked up at him, the question about how she knew on the tip of his tongue, when she continued. “She went to the hotel with Mandy to take me to lunch and found out I wasn’t there.”
He gave her a curt nod, then let her proceed.
“Anyway, I figured once she knew, Travis would know, and Mandy and Zach already knew, but I just didn’t want her to find out like this!” She placed her face in her hands, shoulders shaking as she cried.
He was overcome with the need to do anything in his willpower to take away all her pain. At that moment, her pain was his pain. Her tears pierced his soul and for once in his life, he didn’t know what to do about it.
“It wasn’t the ideal way, but maybe it’s good now that it’s all out in the open.” He ran his hand along her hair as he grasped her hand with the other, pulling it away from her face.
“I guess,” she sniffed, looking up at him with red-rimmed eyes.
“I know. That’s who Kade is, but I understand why you’re upset.” He kept his voice low and calm even though his heart was beating a million miles an hour. He didn’t do crying women. He didn’t know how to comfort them or make them stop, but everything in him wanted to do just that for her.
“I know,” Skylar sniffed.
“So, we’ll go to the brewery tonight, let everyone do whatever it is they do with this, and everything will be fine.”
“Will it?” Her eyes darted between his, searching for something, but he didn’t know what.
“Of course it will. Our friends are shocked but they’re going to be happy,” he said, squeezing her hand.
“But what about our marriage. Will it be fine?”
“Do you want it to be?” Time stopped as he waited for her answer. His stomach sank, and bile rose in his throat. This was it. This was where he found out how she really felt about whatever their relationship was. He’d meant it when he said he’d had no intention of divorce, but he also knew he couldn’t force her if she didn’t want to stay.
But he sure hoped like hell she wanted to.
“I want it to,” she answered quietly. “Is that what you want?”
“It is,” he said, cupping her cheek. “I want that more than anything, Skylar. You’re everything I didn’t know I wanted and definitely don’t deserve, but I don’t want to let you go.”
He didn’t know if he was in love with her yet, but he was damn close. Until the moment she hesitated about whether she wanted this or not, he hadn’t dared to think about what his life would be like without Skylar in it. Now that he’d felt that, he never wanted to know that feeling again.
