Mating of Convenience (Second Chances Book 1) by Ann-Katrin Byrde

Author:Ann-Katrin Byrde [Byrde, Ann-Katrin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-25T18:30:00+00:00

22

Raphael

The next morning while Nathan was in the shower, I skyped Conner, knowing I had enough time for a conversation since my best friend--and now husband?--always took forever in the bathroom. It took a while until Conner answered the call, and when he did, he sounded a bit hurried.

“Raphael?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”

“You told me to call if anything happened in Paris,” I reminded him, lounging on a bed that still smelled faintly like sex. “Something happened.”

A clattering noise came from the speakers. Conner hadn’t switched on his camera, so I couldn’t tell what exactly was going on, but it sounded like he wasn’t alone in the house.

“Hold on,” I said, “are you having visitors? I can call again later.”

“No, no, I’m totally alone.”

One of my eyebrows went up even though I knew Conner couldn’t see it. My friend was such a bad liar. He was absolutely having someone over. Someone he didn’t want to tell me about. “Are you dating someone?” I asked. “Is it that cop?”

“It’s not that cop. There is no cop.”

“But there is someone.” He hadn’t denied that.

“I’m telling you, I’m not seeing anyone.”

For some reason, I found it hard to believe that. Conner and I had been friends since our college days and I could tell when he was lying. Not that he was lying very often, which made it even easier. “Okay, so it’s not the cop.” I took a moment to think. Who else could it be? “Is it someone from work?”

“You didn’t call to interrogate me did you?”

I knew my friend well enough to know when he was lying, but I also knew him well enough to know when I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. Conner could be damn stubborn if he wanted to be. So I let the topic drop. For now. “I slept with Nathan.”

It took Connor a second to process that statement, then he hurried to ask, “You did what?”

I had to try my hardest not to laugh at the shock in his voice. “Wait, you really didn’t expect that?”

“Are you telling me that you really did?”

I glanced at the closed bathroom door where I could still hear the shower running. Nathan was going to be a little while longer, so there was no harm in talking to Conner openly. “I guess, there was always a part of me, the kind of hoped we would fall into bed with each other again.”

On the other end of the line, my friend remained quiet for a moment. Although I couldn’t see him, I knew that he was deep in thought. I could just imagine the frown lines appearing on his forehead.

Eventually, he spoke. “I guess I’m so surprised, because I was around after you left. If you had seen Nathan during those days… It was really bad, you know. I didn’t think there was any coming back from that for the two of you.”

Guilt nagged at my core following Conner’s words. I’d known that I’d hurt Nathan, but to hear my friend talk about it like that…

I needed to be better this time around.

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