Page 4 of That Summer
His arms crossed over his chest, his jaw clenched tight. “Want to explain to me why he’s seeing Marissa?”
“What?” The surrounding air turned icy. She struggled to breathe. “Marissa Montgomery?” The name rolled off her tongue like a bad disease.
“Yeah. I’d love to know why that hoe-bag had her mitts all over Nate.”
She breathed in a cool breath. “Marissa, the two times I’ve seen her, she had no issue openly flirting with Nate in front of me.”
Lucas paced around the living room and into the eating area, stopping for a moment. “Yeah, but it was never like this. And Nate, dammit, he usually resists, but–” A violent shudder shook Lucas. “Eww.” His hands covered his face, and he slowly pulled them down, making his eyes wide and wild. “So, seeing them together…” He made a retching motion. “… Led me to believe that they are together. So… What the hell happened Friday? Because on Thursday he was talking about a future with you.”
Unable to stand properly, she braced herself against the wall. No, it wasn’t strong enough. Her jelly-filled legs refused to support her, she needed a seat. Stumbling over to the couch, she slumped into it and grabbed the nearby blanket to cover up. It didn’t matter if it was 29C outside. The air in the apartment chilled her to her bones.
“You need to tell me. There’s some sick reason he’s with her, and I’d like to get to the bottom of it.”
In a low whisper, fighting to breathe, she said, “Ask him.”
Oh my god. It’s over. The training, the learning, to trying to win him back. It’s gone. He’s with someone else.
Her body shivered as her heart slid into her stomach.
“I did.” Lucas walked over and sat beside her on the couch. He lowered his voice. “He told me to ask you.”
“Oh.”
Is he with Marissa because of me? How much did Nate see on Friday?
The colour drained from her face as it replayed in her mind. Hope blossomed for a fraction of a second.
Maybe that’s not why. Maybe it was something else.
Her head snapped to stare at him. “Does he know?”
“About what?”
“You being here. Us working together?”
Oh god. What if Nate thinks Lucas and I are a couple?
“I don’t think so.”
Hmm… weird.
Unable to shake off the uneasiness, she asked in a hushed tone, “Then why would he tell you to ask me?”
“Geezus, Aurora. You’re missing the point. He saidyou’re the reasonhe’s with Marissa. And the way he said it…” He shook his head. “What the hell happened? Was it at work?” The tone in his voice lowered to a more soothing, less accusatory level. “Did you two have a fight? Dammit, I shouldn’t have ignored my nagging feeling to show up at the library that afternoon, but I didn’t want it to look suspicious.”
Friday. Nate’s angry because of what he thought he saw on Friday.
“If I tell you, you’ll hate me just as much as he apparently does.”
“He doesn’t hate you.” Lucas rubbed her leg. “I know he doesn’t. If he did, he wouldn’t have been so quick to bring up your name. But he’s angry. That’s the only explanation for him being with her. Please, tell me what happened? Did something happen at work?”
Her head hung in shame as she sighed. “Fine.” The blanket wrapped tighter around her. “But I’m letting you know first that I was a bad person. Really bad. It was mostly the drugs though because a sane and clean person wouldn’t have done what I did.”
“Why am I suddenly worried?”
She whispered, “Do you know who Matthew James is?”
“Yeah, of course.” He nodded in confirmation. “He’s that author guy.”