AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You scared the crap out of me,” she said, startled. We were pretty casual around here, and Thayle was wearing a long-sleeved tee and Grado hat. I couldn’t remember if I’d told her how much I loved her in hats.
“That’s a sexy look on you.”
She craned her neck to look past me, into the hall.
“She’s outside,” I said. “Something about a chair shipment.”
“That’s a sexy look on you too,” she said, now that I’d made it a point to tell her Min was nowhere close.
I looked down at my jeans and sweatshirt. “What is?”
“Everything.”
I closed the door, throwing Thayle into a panic.
“Neo, we can’t,” she said as I stalked toward her. I would have ignored her words and leaned down for a quick kiss anyway, but the sheer panic in her voice gave me pause.
“Thayle, what the hell is going on? You can’t tell me there hasn’t been an opportunity to talk to Min. You work twenty feet apart from her, for God’s sakes.”
She was easily the most stubborn woman I knew, save Min. When Thayle got that look in her eyes, there was no budging her.
“I’ll talk to her,” she said.
“When?”
“Soon.”
I dug my heels in, despite myself, for one simple fact. I loved this woman and did not want to hide us. It felt wrong. Deceptive. Unnecessary. If anyone was going to be in the hot seat once word got out, it was me. I could solve the problem the same way as Cosimo, but after a lifetime of knowing her, a rushed engagement didn’t seem right.
“Today.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You agreed it could be on my timetable, when I felt it was right.”
“I thought you meant waiting a day, Thayle.”
“After all this time, what does it matter?”
“Exactly. What is one more day, or two, going to accomplish? If you ask me, this sneaking around, now that we’re together, is a worse lie than having kept your feelings about me a secret from her all these years.
Thayle looked so miserable, I almost backed down. Except that...it felt as if she was embarrassed of us. Of me.
“I will tell her soon,” she said.
“Tell me what?” asked a voice from the door.
Fuck.
I’d pressed the issue and made it worse.
Min walked in, glaring back and forth between us.
“Just go,” Thayle said. She’d wanted to talk to Min alone, I knew, but not like this. It felt like I was abandoning her.
“Thayle...”
“Please, Neo. Go.” She gave methatlook. The one that said,I’m not budging on this. Still, I didn’t move. Why did she insist on doing this alone?
“Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Min crossed her arms.
