Page 55 of The Doctors Will See You Now

Will looked at Eli and Eli looked at Will, and my lungs burned so much they felt like they were being sucked into a vortex. But before I could do anything to soothe the chaos—not that I had any clue what the fuck I was going to do—Melissa called Will’s attention. “Dr. Cummings, Marlene is asking for you to head into exam room six immediately.”

Will turned at the beckon, and panicked, I reached my hand out and gripped his bicep. “Will…wait…”

But he just shook his head and strode through the reception doors and down the hall toward, I presumed, exam room six.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“Why did you say that?” I asked Eli through gritted teeth. “You’re not my boyfriend. You’re my ex-boyfriend.”

“I know,” he said, but it didn’t really feel like he knew it. It felt like he was just doing what he always did—capitalizing on situations when it was optimal for him. “But I don’t want to be your boyfriend or your ex-boyfriend. I want to be more than that, Mel. I want to spend my life with you.”

My jaw dropped. Literally. Dropped to the floor. “Excuse me?”

“Oh my God,” a woman whispered behind me. “Do you think he’s going to ask her to marry him?”

I fucking hope not.

Are you there, God? It’s me, Melody. And this better be a freaking joke.

“Don’t you think we should have this conversation somewhere else?” he asked and glanced around the room to several sets of riveted eyes. They practically glowed like a herd of deer in the dark forest.

We had officially become the live soap opera in the waiting room.

And, yeah, we probably should’ve had this conversation somewhere else. The whole situation felt like one giant clusterfuck of disasters. But this shit was Eli’s fault, and I’d be damned if I was going to give him anything he wanted, even if it was the thing I most wanted myself.

“Listen,” I said with determination in my voice. “I’m not sure what your motives are—”

“Motives?” He cut me off with a shake of his head. “There are no motives, Melly. I love you. I miss you. That’s why I’m here.”

I sighed. “You’re here because you had an investors’ meeting, and it was convenient.”

“Oh, come on, Mel,” he tried to argue. “Do you really think that little of me?”

Let the record show Exhibit A of Eli’s notorious ways: turning the blame on me. Eli had a talent for finding a way to use guilt against me. And a year ago, I would’ve crumpled like a piece of a paper.

But not today. Not now. I’d just started to find myself again. I’d just started to repair what I’d lost in that relationship. I’d just started to feel like me. I’d just found Will…

I met his gaze and didn’t back down. “It’s been over four months since I left Portland,” I argued. “Over four months and this is the first time I’m hearing from you in any form other than a generic text message. If you’ve been missing me so badly, why have you waited until now to tell me? Why did you wait until you were conveniently in New York for a work thing to reach out?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?” I questioned. “Tell me, Eli. What is it like?”

“I want to marry you,” he said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

He wanted to marry me.

I called bullshit.

“No, you don’t.”

“How can you say that?” he exclaimed with a frustrated wave of his hand. “How can you just discount what I’m feeling like that?”

“I’m not discounting anything,” I explained. “Your actions speak louder than your words ever have. And your actions, Eli? Well, they show a man who doesn’t know what the fuck he wants.”

“I want you.”

“You want me? You want to marry me?”