Brody by Douglas Cheryl

Author:Douglas, Cheryl [Douglas, Cheryl]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary Fiction, Contemporary, Literature & Fiction
Published: 2016-01-21T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Brody

As I sat in the parking lot, staring at Riley’s bedroom window, my gut churned as I replayed the whole ugly scene in my mind. I’d snapped when I realized her ex wasn’t over her. That meant he might show up on her doorstep one day and beg her to take him back. And maybe she would…

I pressed my thumb and forefinger into my burning eyes. I’d made a mess of everything. Made her out to be the villain just because she’d… fallen in love with someone else. It still killed me to think about it. How could she love someone else? How could she forget everything we meant to each other, even for a little while? But it made perfect sense. Riley would never have slept with someone she didn’t love.

After buying a new phone charger for my car, I’d gone to the store and picked up the items she needed, then I made a pit stop at a high-end accessories store to buy a pair of lamps to replace the one I’d broken. I still cringed when I thought about her picking up the broken pieces of ceramic while she cursed me for being a brainless hothead.

For all I knew, she’d called my family to tell them dinner was off, and that she never intended to see me again. But if that was the case, I suspected my brothers would have been blowing up my phone by now, demanding to know what I’d done to screw things up with Riley this time.

After lugging the bags through her posh lobby, I was grateful to step onto an empty elevator. Once inside, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror before pushing the button for Riley’s floor. Over the last few days with Ri, I’d looked and felt more like myself than I had in years. Instead of picking up my suits from my brother’s house, I chose jeans, T-shirts, and ball caps. And it felt good. Really good. Comfortable, like slipping back into my own skin.

When I reached Riley’s door, I tapped before walking in, unsure what kind of reception to expect.

She was walking down the hall from her bedroom, her hair upswept, wearing a low-cut black pantsuit and heels. “I wasn’t sure you were coming back.” She eyed the bags in my hands. “I was just considering whether to call your family and cancel.”

She had every reason to doubt me. I’d performed the vanishing act dozens of times over the course of our relationship, sometimes disappearing for days after we had a fight. “I’m sorry about the way I acted earlier.” I handed her the bags containing the carefully wrapped lamps I’d selected for her. “These are to replace the one I broke.”

Riley extracted a lamp from the bag and set it on the end table where the other lamp had been. “Thank you, but you didn’t have to do that. I could have picked up another one tomorrow.”

She sounded so cold, so distant, and I had only myself to blame.

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