My Hired Boyfriend (Completed)

30. Flowers and Ex Girlfriends

Chapter 30

CODA POV  

*sometime in the future* 

           “Coda.”

            My name slips from his lips in a breathy exhale, my entire body stilling.

            The papers slip from my fingers and I clutch the phone in my hand, lowering it.

            The look in his eyes is stormy, so much like Hazel’s own eyes.

            I open my mouth and I can’t spit out any of the words, knowing how everything looked right now at this position.

            His gaze flickers from his open drawers and the papers in my hand to the phone, realization dawning.

            He just stares at me, waiting for me to speak, an accusation in his eyes but I can’t speak. I can’t even face him.

            Every part of me was screaming for me to push out the simple lie, to try to cover up my mess but there was no going back.

            I wish I noticed the way his body shook, the way he clutched the edge of the table as if leaning on it for support-

            All of these signs came too late to me and looking back, I realize I really was the destruction of the Reed family.

~*~

            *Present Time*

            “You don’t like these? Really?” Hazel pouts, her brow furrow.

            I roll my eyes, unable to keep the smile from my lips as I pretend to examine the white tulips again.

            “All the flowers look the same,” I say, knowing that’d tick her off.

            Hazel gapes at me. “Are you stupid?” she snaps.

            I take the flowers from her hand, settling them on the table beside us to loop my fingers on the loop of her jeans to draw her nearer, nothing between us anymore.

            The ocean breeze is gentle, adding the quaint atmosphere of the small floral shop by the beach.

            This was Hazel’s favorite place aside from the beach. She loved how all the flowers just seemed to tumble out onto the beach, the sun gleaming across the petals.

            I study her pout, unable to stop from smiling.

            “No matter how many times you ask me that question, it won’t change my answer.” I say lowly, amused at the blush on her cheeks from our close proximity. “No.”

            “Y-You’re just too dumb to realize it,” she stutters, plucking a single flower from the bunch beside her.

            “This is a tulip,” she tells me in a matter of fact tone, half turning from the encasement of my arms to search for the other bunch of roses resting on the table behind her.

            With her back turned towards me, I slide my palm against the wooden table to grab the light rose she is looking for. She turns around and I tap the tip of her nose with it, her nose scrunching up.