“You left your phone here. I wasn’t snooping or anything, but you had a missed call.”
He wasn’t listening to me. Instead, he was pacing the living room and looking agitated.
“Who’s Ed?” I asked.
At the mention of the name, he stopped dead in his tracks and glared at me.
“Did you speak to him? What did he say to you?” His irritation was escalating now and I didn’t like it one little bit.
“No,” I spat, feeling slightly hurt that he’d even question me. “I already told you, I let it go to voicemail.”
He nodded, muttering, “Good, good,” under his breath, as he rubbed his bristly chin, deep in thought.
“So? Who is he?” I pushed. I was determined to get some kind of answer from him, seeing as this man’s name had such a profound effect on his mood.
“No one,” he snapped.
“Yeah, right.” I put my hands on my hips and pierced him with my stare, daring him to challenge me. “So next time he calls, I can answer it?”
“Hell no!” He launched himself across the room to stand over me, his nostrils flared and his eyes darting over my face, as if he was accusing me of something I hadn’t even done yet.
I stood on my tiptoes, meeting his gaze to show him I meant business too.
“Then tell me who the hell he is, and why you’re starting to sweat talking about this.”
Sensing I wasn’t about to drop this anytime soon, Justin wrapped me in his arms and whispered, “Baby, let’s not argue. It’s just some guy I know. He was probably ringing to see if I was up for a drinking session today or something like that. I feel on edge today, that’s all. I’m sorry.”
“No. I don’t buy it.” I pushed away from him and went to stand by the window. We’d built our relationship on honesty, transparency. I wasn’t about to compromise that now, not for anything.
“Fine,” he huffed, exasperated, and sank down onto the sofa.
He sat with his head bowed, running his fingers through his hair and failing miserably to hide the internal debate he was having with his conscience.
“Shit,” he cursed. “Ryley, come sit down with me. I think there’s some things I need to tell you. I haven’t been completely honest with you lately.”
My stomach fell to the ground with dread. Oh God, what was he going to tell me? Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be good; I could gather that much.
I took a fortifying breath and turned around to face the music. He was hunched forward and his hands were dangling loosely in-between his knees. That’s when I noticed how badly he was shaking. Why was he nervous? What the hell was he going to tell me that’d make him shake like that?
I sat down next to him and turned my body to face his, but he stayed facing forward and blew out an unsteady breath.
“I need you to keep an open mind, okay? Can you do that?” He turned to look at me with sheer dread painted across his beautiful face.
“I can’t make any promises, Justin. Not when you’re looking at me like that.”
He leaned forward again and ran his hands over his head, then grabbed my hand to hold in his as he spoke.
“I’ve fucked up, Ryley. I’ve fucked up big style, babe.”
“What have you done?” I tried to pull my hand out of his, but he wouldn’t let go of me.
“I missed you so much, and everything was just-” He sighed with such despondency it tugged at my heart, but the nauseating dread still crept over me like ice freezing in my veins. “Everything was dull, less colourful. I didn’t feel like I could get through each day without you.”
“Is there someone else?” I had to ask. I didn’t want to, but I needed to know.
“No! Jesus, no. Ryley, there’s no one else. There never could be anyone else. I love you, baby. I love you too much sometimes. That’s part of the reason I struggled. Why I’m here right now, like this.”
“Spit it out, Justin, because I have absolutely no clue what’s going on with you. I’m freaking out here.”