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“Me too.”
She tells me they’ll pick me up since we’re going in one car, and we end our call.
When I finally join the guys in the kitchen, my stomach rumbles at the smell of the breakfast Henrik made—bacon, eggs, and pancakes.
“Hey.” I greet Harv with a smile.
“Mornin’,” he says.
“What’s up, Gem Gem?” Hen elbows me playfully and hands me a plate. A part of me is glad he’s here to ease some of the tension of this past week.
After breakfast, we head to Harvey’s PT appointment.
“I can feel your stress from over here, Gem,” Hen says in the seat next to mine, while his eyes are glued to his cell phone. Denying it would be useless, so I say nothing, even though I’m dying to ask him if he told Harvey that I slept with someone else.
Although I’m certain Harvey would confront me about it if he knew, it doesn’t stop the lingering fear from growing in thepit of my stomach. The thought that Henrik might’ve told him is enough to make me bite my nails.
I know that I need to tell Harvey at some point if we’re to seriously work through our issues, but we need time before I break the betrayal to him.
I can’t even imagine how much this would hurt him and ruin everything we’ve ever had.
I hear Henrik chuckle when he shows me his phone, and I read the dirty messages sent from a girl. I shake my head and he laughs.
“Don’t hate. There’s a reason I’m always happy.”
You just wait, Henrik.
I look back to see Harv with Stefan in the far corner on the other side of the room.
He makes eye contact with me. Each of his legs are attached to robotic braces that assist with basic walking. He’s using the Lokomat, which is essentially a robotic treadmill training system. I knew Harv attended a high-end PT center when I saw that machine, because it’s not cheap.
I can almost see the blow to his pride from here. Though I wish he’d let me witness more of his developments, what truly matters to me is that he advances at his own pace.
I turn back around to give him the privacy he seeks.
I need to muster the courage to ask Hen. I should just ask him,right now.
I clear my throat. “Did you tell him?”
Henrik glances at me and seems to put two and two together before he shakes his head. “Nope, and he doesn’t need to know.”
“Maybe he does. I can’t—”
“Not now. Let him improve before you crush the man.”
I’m silent as I ponder his words. I’ll always be the villain in Harvey’s story no matter what I do.
Henrik squeezes my hand, then goes back to texting. “He crushed you first—I know.”
Maybe. Maybe not.
It’s not about who crushed who first in love, now is it? We both hurt each other, and that’s what contributed to our ruin in the making.
Henrik’s back to laughing over his texts, so I change the subject, relieved to know Harvey doesn’t know.
“Do you think he’s ready to get a part-time job?” I ask, thinking it might do wonders for his morale.
“Yeah, he could work at the tattoo parlor he used to.”
