Now she cried harder and wiped the tears away with her fingertips. “Crewe—”
I rose out of my chair and snatched my phone on the way out. “I have to go get my woman now. I don’t have time for any more of this bullshit.”
20
London
I was living off my savings and sleeping in a motel room.
It wasn’t nice, but I didn’t need nice right now.
I hadn’t bothered to find an apartment yet. I hadn’t even bothered to find a job. I’d never been this lazy in my life, but it was hard for me to get out of bed. I only ate when my stomach wouldn’t stop growling and I felt light-headed. There was a deli just next door, so I walked there to get a sandwich.
I’d been watching a lot of daytime TV, most soap operas. Every time a couple broke up, I thought of Crewe and shed my own tears. I constantly checked my phone to see if he texted or called me and I just happened not to hear it.
But he never did.
I tried to convince myself this was for the best. He deserved someone better than me. But those words did little to make me feel better. Honestly, I loved him so much that I wanted him to myself.
Did that make me a terrible person?
I’d never hated someone before, but I truly hated Ariel. If she weren’t so close to Crewe, I would have told her to fuck off then gave her a black eye. She had a lot of nerve pulling the stunt she did. When I disliked her before, at least I respected her. But now I just thought she was a manipulative bitch who controlled Crewe like a puppet with invisible strings. The only family I had was Joseph, and I knew Ariel was all Crewe had. If it weren’t for that fact, things would have turned out completely differently.
A knock sounded on the door.
I was lying in a bed that had only been made once, with the light from the TV shining on the wall. It was nearly nine in the evening, so I assumed it wasn’t housekeeping. I felt perfectly safe in New York, but I wasn’t naïve either.
I crept to the door and looked through the peephole.
I knew I was losing my mind when I saw a man who looked just like Crewe on the other side. With the same five-o’clock shadow, the same mocha brown eyes, and the same powerful shoulders.
Maybe this was a dream.
“Lovely,” he spoke through the door. “It’s me.”
I inhaled a sharp breath before my hands began to shake. I tried to get the latch off the door, but I couldn’t slide it through the metal. My movements were too jerky because I couldn’t keep my body still. “One second…I’m trying to get the lock.” I finally slid it over and unlocked the handle. When I pulled the door open, the cold air rushed inside, bringing the smell of frost from winter.
I hadn’t even thought about changing. I was in sweatpants and his old shirt with a messy bun planted on the top of my head. I looked terrible, but I was so excited to see him that I didn’t think twice before opening the door.
I’d been thinking about him nonstop, and now that he was here, I didn’t think. I said the dumbest thing. “Can I get you some water?”
Crewe stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
“I mean…sorry. I just can’t believe you’re here. I… Why are you here?”
His hands went to my waist, and he moved in close to me. “Ariel told me the truth. Now I’m here to take you home.”
“She did…?” She put me through all that misery just to come clean about it?
He nodded. “You’ll never see her again. She’s gone.”
“Really?” I whispered, tears springing to my eyes.
“Yeah. And I apologize in advance for this…I didn’t want to ask you this in a run-down hotel in Manhattan, but since you already know…” He pulled the ring from his pocket and slipped it on my left ring finger. “Please say yes. I don’t want anything to come between us again. I’ve already lost you twice, and I can’t do it again.”
I eyed the beautiful ring with a red stone in the middle with tears in my eyes. It was unlike any other ring I’d ever seen. Without question, I knew it was special. I knew it wasn’t a ring he simply picked up at the store.
“It was my mother’s,” he explained. “And my grandmother’s before that…”
“I’m so honored.”
“Then do me the honor of saying yes.” He grabbed my wrist and placed his hand over my chest. “Say yes.”
“Yes.” A new wave of tears spilled down my face. “Yes.”
He cupped my face and kissed me like he never had before. A combination of hard and soft, his lips moved with mine with desperation. He slowly backed me farther into the room, his fingers sliding into my hair then down my shoulders. My tears stuck to his cheeks, but that didn’t slow him down. He wiped one drop away with the pad of his thumb before he broke the kiss. “You wanna spend the night here or head back home?”