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She watched his fingers, strangely fascinated by their movements. At first, they seemed random but then she realized there was a pattern to how he moved them over the phone. It was like a nervous tic almost. As she watched, his thumb lingered too long on the button, unlocking the phone.
As it opened, she wasn’t surprised at first to see it open to the First Sight app, probably because she was so used to looking at the interface. It was familiar. But then she realized that it was on his phone, not hers. He had the app too?
His fingers froze and she felt him stiffen next to her. Before he could click the button to turn the phone back off, she caught a snatch of the conversation on the screen. It was easy to identify because she had just read it.
He had it open to the conversation she had been having with Napper.
For a second, it didn’t click. He was reading her messages? Had he cloned her phone? Was that a thing?
Then she realized with a heavy jolt—Nate was Napper. Nate, who developed apps. Napper.
Briefly, Colby thought she might pass out. Darkness was her only view, swimming over her eyes. She realized that she wasn’t blacking out, but staring intensely at the now-dark phone in Nate’s hands. The beginning of a headache pricked behind her eyes.
Her whole body stilled. Jane sounded so crazy on the phone earlier, talking about how creepy it was that Nate happened back into her life the way he did. Now it didn’t sound all that crazy. He was an app developer—was this his app? Did he find her and make sure she was in the beta test that was supposed to be random? Had he picked her out and made sure to match them up?
Coincidences like that didn’t just happen, did they? One thing she could write off. Just being her mail carrier. But now this?
Maybe she should have felt fear, but even discovering this, she didn’t. Maybe Nate manipulated some things to get close to her, but he wasn’t a scary guy. Or she didn’t think so. But Colby was beginning to wonder if she knew him at all. He wouldn’t tell her the truth. He hid things, deceived her, rigged an app, and maybe even got a job where he could see her.
That didn’t reconcile with who she thought he was. But how else did any of these things make sense?
Then it hit her: she hadn’t just lost Nate but Napper. It was a dual blow. She went from two potential guys to none.
He still wasn’t talking. Colby picked up her phone and turned it over, leaning away from Nate. She didn’t want him to see what she was typing.
Sewzy:You need to leave.
As she hit send, she watched Nate, and scooted a few feet away. She didn’t think she needed to be afraid of him, but she didn’t want to be close to him either.
His phone chimed with the notification and he opened it. As he read the message, his head jerked up. “You know?”
Colby got to her feet. He scrambled up as well, taking a step toward her. She held out her hands, palms out, stopping him.
“Now I do, but I should have seen it sooner. It’s your app, right? You never told me the name of what you’re working on. I guess I know why now. You had access to everything about me: where I’m living, what I like, my work, everything. I should have known that there aren’t signs. Or coincidences. Not like this.”
“Colby, I swear, I didn’t use all that—”
“Why couldn’t you just tell me the truth? You still had my number. If you had called me or texted even after all these years, I would have answered you. I would have forgiven you in a heartbeat.”
Even now, she would forgive him. But he couldn’t know that. She could not offer it to him. He had to fight for it. He had to fight for her. She trembled at the thought, waiting and hoping for him to make a move that would be worthy of forgiveness. Something that would let her know it was safe to put her heart on the line for him.
Nate said nothing.
Colby’s stomach clenched. “Look, Nate—Napper, whatever. You need to go.”
“I promise, I didn’t set up the whole mailman thing. That just happened. I wasn’t stalking you with your data on the app. I just—”
“You just rigged it so we’d end up together.”
His eyes were wild. “I didn’t rig it. But I looked at who it set me up with to get a sense of how well it worked. And when I saw you, I had to—I wanted to…I’m just. Colby.
Part of Colby wanted to believe him. But she knew better. He wasn’t someone she could trust. Not again. Jane was right. He broke her trust back then and he was doing it again now.
“For me, love is trust. You burned up my trust. It’s all used up. I’m going to bed. When I come out, I want you gone.”
“Colby—”
“Nate, please.” Colby hated the sound of the hitch in her voice, emotion thick from the tears that were finding their way out.
