Blurred Lines (Love Unexpectedly 1)

But in the end, it doesn’t matter.

Doesn’t matter whether Lance was hoping I’d just stumble across the ring in the least romantic proposal of all time, or whether he’s just oblivious.

In the end, finding that red jewelry box was the wake-up call I needed.

Not just a wake-up call that I can’t marry Lance, because I’ve known that for weeks.

No, finding that box made me realize something even more disturbing:

I’ve been using Lance.

I’ve been lying next to him night after night, trying to remember how to be in love with him, when really my every thought and every dream was consumed with someone else.

Of course, I don’t tell him this last part when I break up with him.

Instead, I sit him down when he gets home from work and quietly, kindly tell him that it’s not working out.

The irony isn’t lost on me.

I didn’t intend to, but in the end, I dumped him in the very same location he dumped me months earlier.

And to his credit, he handles me breaking up with him with more dignity than I did.

He doesn’t even look surprised, and because I know him well—almost as well as I know Ben—I narrow my eyes.

“Lance.”

He looks up.

“You don’t exactly look crushed,” I say with a faint smile. “Particularly considering I found a certain key piece of jewelry in your dresser drawer.”

He groans and leans forward until his forehead touches the kitchen counter. “I’m an idiot.”

“Because you were going to propose when we’ve barely connected? Haven’t even had sex?”

He snorts. “I know. I was going to return it. I just…”

I prop my elbow on the table, then put my chin on my hand. “You just…”

“I thought that buying that ring…committing to you, would make me forget—”

I sit up straighter. “Oh my God. You’ve still got a thing for Laurel.”

“No!” He sits up. “No, I…fuck. I don’t know. I haven’t seen her but I keep thinking about her. Wondering…”

I smile then, a bittersweet kind of smile, and stand. I lean forward and impulsively kiss the top of his head. “You should tell her.”

“She’s got a boyfriend.”

I lift a shoulder. “Tell her anyway. I think we both know that it’s possible to be dating one person and thinking of another.”

He searches my face. “Ben?”

I swallow.

Nod.

Lance blows out a breath. “I knew it. That song at karaoke…that was for him, wasn’t it?”