Chapter 7
He could see her freeze out of the corner of his eyes, but he wouldn’t take his words back. If he were right, she didn’t like the idea of being friends just as he wished they could be more. It was odd, being around her for such a short period of time and already knowing that he wanted a relationship with her. If he were being honest with himself, he would admit to the fact that Cece was his type. Even when he had taken the safe route with Abby, Cece had been the one that drew his attention. He never would have acted on it, or let anyone know how he felt when he was with Abby. Now, he didn’t have to worry about that. Abby was happily engaged to a man she adored, and Paul was very much single.
The thought caused him to pause in his eating and frown down at his plate. “Are you dating anyone?”
She hesitated. When the hesitation went on longer, Paul glanced away from his plate and stared at her. She blinked, and her tongue came out to wet her bottom lip. “Yes.”
“Oh,” he mumbled while pulling his hand away from hers. He didn’t cheat, whether it was the girl or he who was dating. “Well, that explains it,” he said with a laugh. “Why didn’t you just tell me that to begin with?”
“I, um, I—
“Look,” he said, standing to his feet, “I understand that we didn’t start off liking one another, but that isn’t an excuse to lie.” Realizing he still clutched his fork in his hand, he dropped it to the table.
Just as he started walking away, she called out his name. He kept walking, but as he reached the threshold of the kitchen, he glanced back at her. Her eyes darted away from him. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he answered. “Maybe I’m overreacting.” He paused for a moment. “Hey, now, when all things are said and done, we really can just be friends.”
This time, when she called out his name, he didn’t stop until he was safely outside. A light rain fell from the sky, but it was refreshing more than anything was. The sky was dark with only a few stars mixed in. It was a beautiful night, but that didn’t make him feel better. Why he was so upset about Cece seeing someone else and lying about it, he had no idea. It wasn’t as if he held a claim on her. She was her own person, a person who obviously wouldn’t be happy with him.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped away from her door and into the light rain. His red car stood out in the dark like a beacon, and the thought made him laugh. Wasn’t that the reason why he had purchased the car to begin with? He wanted women to be attracted to him, and if that meant buying a fancy car that could only fit two people that was what he would do.
He reached his car and ran a hand over the hood. That was who he was, not who he wanted to be. Come tomorrow, he was trading his car in. What was it that his stepfather said? You can talk a big talk, but can you walk the walk? Tomorrow, he wouldn’t just think about being a new man, he would prove to himself that he was. He didn’t need Cece to make him feel changed. He only needed himself.
Jumping into his car, he started the engine. He eased the car out of her drive. The old Paul would have sped, sending dust and rocks flying. That wasn’t him though. His car drifted down roads as his thoughts bombarded him. Maybe he had been too hard on Cece. Maybe he drew conclusions where they shouldn’t have been drawn. There were too many maybes, maybes that would have been answered if he had stayed.
He couldn’t stay though, not when he knew her face would be filled with pity. She would say nice things to him, all while letting him down gently. He had been there before; he didn’t need to experience it again. Shaking his head, he looked around, noticing for the first time where he actually was. He banged his head against the steering wheel while looking up at the house in front of him
What would Abby do if he came knocking on her door? He didn’t want to disturb her or Lance, but who else did he have to go too? His sister was at work, and the rest of his family lived two hours away. He couldn’t just show up at Abby’s house in the middle of the night though.
A knock sounded on his window, making him jump. He heard the laughter on the other side of the door, and when he looked up, he saw Lance standing there in nothing but a pair of sweatpants. Lance made a motion telling Paul to roll down his window. When he did, Lance stared at him for a second before nodding. “Come on in.”
“I don’t want to—”
“You wouldn’t have driven here in the middle of the night if it weren’t bothering you.” Lance straightened out, making his face become shadowed in the darkness. “Hurry up. I’m freezing my ass off.”
Paul let out a laugh while rolling up his window and cutting his engine off. As he opened the door, he nodded towards Lance. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem,” Lance mumbled as he jogged towards the house. He pulled the door open and stepped in quickly.
Paul followed behind slower. As he reached the house, he could hear Abby yelling inside.
“I don’t care,” she shouted, making him pause. Was she yelling at Lance? He had never heard Abby sound so angry before. Was it because Lance had invited him in? He paused in the doorway, listening to her as she continued shouting. “What you did was wrong. I know you don’t trust people, but you went too far.” She paused for a second. “I’m not taking sides,” she whispered, “but I never thought you were a liar.”
The sound of a phone slamming made him snap out of it and walk further into their house. Where Cece’s was extravagant, theirs was welcoming. As he walked further in, he saw Lance hugging Abby while her face was buried in his chest. Lance looked up, connecting eyes with Paul.
Pushing her gently away from him, Lance pressed a kiss to her lips before turning her to face Paul. “He looks like he needs someone to talk to,” Lance said while dropping his hands from her waist. “I’m going to go make some hot chocolate. You two talk.”
The man walked from the living room, leaving the two of them standing there. With a sigh, Abby plopped down in a large chair. She smiled at him, but he could see the worry lined in her eyes. “Come on, tell me what’s wrong.”
He set in the sofa across from her and shrugged. “I have a feeling you already know,” he mumbled before scrubbing a hand across his face. “I don’t know why it even bothers me this much.”
“It’s because you like her,” Abby said. He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. “Don’t try to deny it. The two of you have liked one another from the beginning. Why do you think you fight so much? You were trying so hard not to like one another that the only way you could do it was to argue. I knew that as soon as the two of you stopped biting at one another’s throats you would see what I saw.”
“What’s that?”
She shrugged. “That the two of you belong together.”
He jumped to his feet and began pacing her living room. “She doesn’t feel the same.”
Abby snorted, making him glance at her in surprise. A chuckle from the doorway drew his attention. Lance stood there with a tray in his hands. On the tray were various, unmatched, chipped coffee mugs. Paul didn’t ask why their mugs were so damaged looking; he knew Lance could afford to buy millions of handmade cups if he wished.
“Abby’s right,” Lance said as he walked towards her. He put the tray down on the table before pulling her to her feet. He sat in the chair, bringing her down on his lap. “The two of you were practically made for each other.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he protested while grabbing a cup. “She doesn’t feel the same.”
“Of course she does,” Abby said. “She’s just testing you in the stupidest way possible, by pushing you away.”
Paul stopped pacing and stared at her. “What do you mean?”
Abby snuggled further into Lance’s arm while the man pulled her closer. Lance’s hands covered her stomach, and the smile on the man’s face made Paul wonder if they were keeping certain news from everyone. “Cece’s been abandoned by almost everyone who she has ever met. I don’t mean that in a negative way, because I think it’s just because she picks the wrong people to trust. While I try to run from my problems, Cece pushes them away.”
“So, she, what, lied to me?” he asked in disbelief.
“That’s what I’m saying. Look, when we first met, Cece tried pushing me away. She made fun of my dirty dress; she did everything she could think of. Once she realized that I wasn’t going anywhere, and that I was keeping her, she became my best friend.” Abby paused for a second before sending him a serious look. “I’m not saying that what she does is right, but if you can’t stick in there, you don’t deserve her.”
A smile flew onto his face. “That was her that you were talking to when I came in, wasn’t it?”
Red covered her cheeks. “Yes,” she mumbled.
“So, you told us both off.” He chuckled when her face turned even redder. Stepping forward, he bent down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “It’s good to know that you don’t pick sides.” He straightened, his eyes filled with amusement. Nodding towards Lance, his smile widened. “Congratulations.”
He turned; ready to leave their house when something hit his back. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the pillow lying behind him. He raised an eyebrow at Abby who just shrugged at him. “Hurry up before I throw something else at you.”
With another laugh, he did as she said. It was time to prove not only to himself, but also to someone else that he was trustworthy, that he was truly a different person.