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The fact that I’d lost five minutes’ worth of sleep over this guy. . . what had I been thinking? It’s funny, when you’re in the midst of something, how hard it is to think clearly. But just a few steps back and everything crystalizes.
That’s why Nate wanted to move in with Lucas. To be sure we were thinking clearly.
Suddenly it made sense.
I’d try not to take it personally from this point on. Just take things as they came. Be like water. If there was a rock in front of my path, I’d flow around it.
Sighing, I no longer cared about anything except closing this conversation out once and for all. “Erik,” I said firmly, “we are not getting back together. I’m in love with another man.” Did I really just say that out loud? “And you clearly have some things to sort through. I’ll box up your stuff and drop it off this week.”
“Zoe.” He reached for my free hand.
I stepped back. “There’s nothing more to say, Erik. Good luck sorting through things.”
With that, I turned away. Left the six months of my life I refused to regret. We’d had some good times together, and being with Erik allowed me to compare the depth of my feelings between him and Nate.
There was no comparison.
As I walked back to the girls, I thought about what to tell Nate. I didn’t want to keep anything from him, so I’d mention this bizarre incident, and hopefully, it wouldn’t cause an issue. If the situation were reversed, I wouldn’t be so thrilled with his ex running around asking for him back.
What mattered, though, was that I didn’t want Erik. I wanted Nate. Loved Nate.
And maybe it was about time for me to tell him so.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
nate
“Aww, come on.”
Lucas was not shy about sharing his displeasure with the referees. We sat at the bar at KC’s watching the game, and though I wasn’t a huge Jets fans, enough people around me were that I mostly kept my mouth shut.
“How’s it going?” Owen asked me, refilling our beers. We hadn’t spoken to him much. The place was slammed. But it seemed like a new bartender had just come on to her shift, freeing the owner up a bit.
“No complaints here,” I said, amusing myself watching Lucas lose his mind.
When the new bartender, a pretty woman with long, dark hair, slapped Owen on the ass as she walked by, I took a stab at her identity.
“Your girlfriend?” I asked.
“Fiancée,” he said, smiling.
“Shut the hell up.” Lucas finally tore himself away from the game. “When did that happen?”
“When we realized we were having a baby.”
If Lucas was surprised by the fiancée announcement, the baby one really hit him. “Congratulations, man.” He reached across the bar to shake Owen’s hand. “That’s great.”
I did the same. “Congratulations.”
Owen’s girlfriend came back to him. “You told them?”
“I did.”
“Congratulations, Lusanne,” Lucas said just before cursing at the TV once again.
“Lus, this is Nate Collins, Lucas’s friend from the army. Nate, this is my fiancée, Lusanne DeLuca.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said. “And congratulations on the engagement. And the new addition.”
