Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“Oh, excuse me. Sorry.”
I freeze. I’d know that voice anywhere. I turn slowly to the woman who just bumped into me.
When I look down, I lock gazes with light honey-colored eyes in a pretty brown face. I clench my fists at my sides. I can’t believe my eyes. As much as I hate to admit it, she looks good. Really good.
“Ant?” she gasps. “Oh my God, I was just talking about you. This is crazy.”
“You think? I’ve been wondering where you’ve been for almost eleven years. What could you possibly have to say to anyone about me? That you fucked up my life when you walked out on me?”
She looks down at her feet. I’m coiled with so much rage. People step around us on the busy sidewalk, but I can’t force my feet to move out of the way.
Some dude comes up behind her and wraps an arm around her waist. I glare at his arm, wanting to rip it from his body.
“You okay, baby?” he says.
“Um, yeah. Eric, this is Anthony,” she says nervously.
“The Anthony?”
I glare at the two of them, ready to choke this guy out. It’s when she places her hand over his on her waist that I see red. She has a huge rock on her finger. One I didn’t put there.
“Um, yeah, that Anthony.”
“This is perfect,” the dude croons.
“Uh, Eric, don’t.”
“Buddy, we were just talking about you.”
“Eric,” Alexis says more firmly.
“I’ve asked Lex to marry me. I didn’t know she was already married.”
“Eric,” she repeats as I glare at this dude.
“Can you imagine my surprise? You haven’t come up once in the last year.”
“Eric.”
“Anyway… she was going to give you a call about the divorce, but here you are. I can have the papers drawn up in the morning.”
“Eric,” she growls loudly this time. I scoff as I give her the look of death. He turns to her with a look of surprise on his face.
I call bullshit. I know insecure when I see it. He wouldn’t shut up on purpose.
“Do you mind giving me a minute?” Alexis says.
“No problem. I’ll be over there. I want to call my family with the news.”
“Okay,” she says with a tight smile. “Anthony, listen, I know this all seems messed up. He just proposed tonight. I told him I’d say yes if I could get a divorce.”
“Yet, you have the ring on your finger,” I bite out.
“Only because he insisted. Ant, I’m only trying to breathe and get through—”
“Through what? You walked out on me. You left without a word. Now you’re engaged?”
“You don’t understand. I didn’t want any of this to happen. None of this is what I wanted.”
“You know what, I’ll give you what you want. I’ll be here for at least another day and a half. You get me those papers, I’ll sign.”
I pull my card from my pocket and hand it to her. She looks at me with tears in her eyes. Fuck her tears.
“How have you been?” she breathes.
“Like you care,” I sneer and turn to walk away.
* * *
Alexis
“I know you said he was a big guy, but damn,” Eric says beside me in the cab.
Oh God, why does he sound so corny right now? I mean, he’s never had any real swag, but it’s amplified now after seeing Anthony. I miss my husband so much. I almost called him Ox. The nickname is fitting.
I wish he knew how much I care and know about his life. I’ve never stopped caring. I only started seeing Eric because I was lonely.
At thirty, I miss being a woman in all senses of the word. I left that behind with Anthony. Just seeing his face brought back so many memories.
Not that I’ve allowed myself to go there with Eric, but I thought maybe I could, eventually. I’m lying to myself. However, I can’t go back to Vander or Bridge Lake and New York is such a lonely place to be.
Always people around, but still no one to call your own. I got tired of writing songs and eating Chinese food in my apartment by myself. The pain of my father’s suicide left me feeling depressed for a while.
I mean, my one and only attempt to go back home was an epic fail. I ran back to New York so fast my head spun. Kid has been the one to keep me from falling completely apart. I’m so grateful to her for her visits and reports.
Eric has been asking me out for years. When word got back to me that Anthony had been flirting with Kid—my own damn spy and best friend, I went through the stages of grief before deciding maybe it was time for me to move on.
Eric happened to ask me out at a really vulnerable moment, and I said yes. Kind of like tonight when he proposed. I had no intention of trying to get in touch with Anthony to ask for a divorce.