I was proving…actually, I didn’t remember what I was proving anymore. All I knew was I never wanted the kiss to end.
Gasping at that realization, I pulled back. It felt like I was ripping apart as I pulled away from his touch.
“That. You were doing that.”
His hooded eyes raised to meet mine. “Trust me when I say you are the only woman I would do that with.”
I stared at him, not sure what to say. I wanted to believe him. But Zoe had said she’d seen him…but then again, Zoe wasn’t known for being exceptionally great at telling the truth—and she despised Fletcher, so I wouldn’t put it past her to stretch the truth—or outright lie—when it came to him.
“Even if you give up on us, I want you to know, I would never betray you like that. You are worth so much more than that,” he whispered.
The sincerity in his eyes broke through my rage and hurt. Fletcher had been many things, but he wasn’t a cheater or a liar.
Taking a trembling breath, I nodded. “I believe you, Fletcher. I’m sorry I accused you. I was repeating what someone told me—”
He squeezed my hand, reassuring me. “I’ve been giving Sullivan’s housekeeper a ride home. She doesn’t have a license, and she’s old enough to be my mother. I didn’t want her walking home alone in the dark.”
“I should have known. You’ve never given me reason to distrust you in that way.” Fletcher was a natural born protector.
Fletcher winced. “I hope you can say the same thing a month from now.”
“And why is that?”
“Oh, you know how time is. Time and circumstances can change your mind.” He turned the car back on. “Come on, I’ll drive you home, and you can tell me why you went to The Bar tonight.”
I leaned back in my seat and buckled the belt.
Now that we’d managed to kiss away the fury, I didn’t feel like holding back from Fletcher. One night of unguarded revelation couldn’t hurt, right? He always seemed to have good insight into people, so he’d probably just listen and let me talk anyway.
“I wanted to step outside of my box. Do something unexpected. You thought I’d never come here. Neither did I. But then you laughed when I said I was going to The Bar. You thought I meant here, but I meant the barre studio that I’m redecorating. Anyway, I realized how boring I am in other people’s eyes and I felt like I needed to step out of my comfort zone. So I texted Zoe and asked if she wanted to come with me tonight. It was literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Why do you want to change yourself?” he asked quietly, simply ignoring the part where I’d admitted to wanting to prove him wrong.
I shrugged. “Everyone else is so daring. With their outfits, their friendships, their relationships.”
“But you don’t like that.”
“I don’t, which means I should probably change.”
“What do you like? You don’t have to live your life the way everyone else says you should. And don’t get me started on those friends of yours trying to change you. Friends don’t try to change friends or force them to do things they’re uncomfortable with.”
Thinking of how they’d wanted to throw me in the deep end of getting a new boyfriend right away, even though I was still hurting…it only proved Fletcher’s point even more. Compared to Andrea, who’d come over to just sit and be with me while I processed the breakup. Andrea hadn’t tried to change me or expect anything from me. She simply provided her friendship.
We were completely different. She was an adventurist. (A messy adventurist). But she’d never forced me to be like her.
Maybe Fletcher was right. Maybe it was time to be more discerning with the people I surrounded myself with.
“Don’t change yourself for other people, Saidy. You’re amazing the way you are. If you ever change, make sure it’s something you want, and not something that someone else is pressuring you into,” he said with a soft smile.
“You know,” I cleared my throat. “Sometimes it’s scary how similar you and my mom are. I’d never really noticed. But she gave me that same piece of advice.”
“About friends trying to change you?”
I smiled, “No, about letting other people interfere with our relationship.”
“I always knew I loved your mom.” He smiled as he stepped from the car and walked around to open my door.
He took my keys from me as we walked up the sidewalk and unlocked the house for me.
“Thank you for coming to my rescue tonight,” I said without turning to face him. “I wish—”
I didn’t know what to say. There was so much I wished. I wished we’d worked out. I wished I hadn’t let other people’s opinions influence my decisions. I wished he’d put effort into our relationship.
I wished we had another shot.
But I said none of those things. Instead, I stood there staring at my closed door.
“I know,” Fletcher’s voice rasped behind me, as though he were thinking the same exact things.
Chapter Twenty
Saidy
Something niggled at the back of my mind the rest of the night and on through the next day. It was like one of those flies that buzzed obsessively until you pulled out a fly swatter. And then it went suspiciously quiet.
I knew Fletcher was involved in something. I just didn’t know what.
There was something about Sullivan that didn’t quite fit. Yes, he’d been nothing but nice. He was a good-looking guy.
I slid another willow stem into the vase. It entangled with a fake lily. I pulled them both out at the same time, then proceeded to untangle them. I was in the middle of putting together the vase arrangements for The Barre with an ‘e’ as I’d taken to calling it.
Fletcher.
That’s what it was. I’d known it was something that seemed important. Sullivan knew about Fletcher’s and my relationship. When we first met, he’d asked me
