“I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner. Everything happened so fast, and then we were at the hospital… It was a nightmare.”
“Is he gonna be alright?”
“Yeah. He’s got some broken ribs and his face was beat up, but he’ll be alright.”
“Oh, that’s good to hear,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief. “And you’re alright too?”
I’m more than alright. I’m better than I’ve ever been. I lost my happiness and found it again. Ever since Bones came back into my life, I hadn’t thought of Antonio once. He became an afterthought, hardly a memory. “I’m alright. And relieved.”
“Me too,” he said. “I’m sorry to blow up your phone, but I was just worried.”
“Don’t apologize. Thanks for checking in.”
“So…when are you going to be home? I miss you.”
Like I was punched in the face, I felt everything inside me shatter. His words knocked me out, pushed all the air from my lungs. I couldn’t say it back, not even to make him feel better. It would be wrong, a betrayal to the man I was with. And it just would give Antonio false hope. “Listen…” I told him everything that had happened, but a censored version so he didn’t know about the criminal pasts of my family and Bones. “We’re back together now. I don’t want to hurt you, Antonio, but I don’t want to sugarcoat it and make it seem like there’s still a chance for the two of us.”
Antonio was quiet for a long time, digesting the blow slowly. He had just received a lot of information in very little time. He’d been blindsided, and I didn’t blame him for being overwhelmed.
“I’m sorry…”
He sighed into the phone but still didn’t say anything.
“Antonio—”
“I understand, Vanessa. You can’t choose who you love. Sometimes, it’s beyond our logical control. But I really think there’s something here between us. The way we bought each other’s paintings…the way we connect. I’m not upset about losing a woman to another man. But I am upset about losing you…because I think we have something special, something you don’t have with this other man.”
“I know…but I love him. We have nothing in common. Our relationship has been nothing but work. He’s stubborn and hostile most of the time. But…I love him so much. If I’d met you first, I’m sure we would have been happy together and gotten married. But…I fell in love with this man, and our love is so deep I’ll never shake it.”
Antonio was quiet again, accepting the second blow with silence. “Then there’s nothing left to say.”
“Yeah…”
“Good luck, Vanessa.”
“You too…” I wanted to say more, to end our final conversation on a better note. Antonio was a good man and didn’t deserve this heartbreak. But if I didn’t make it straightforward and cold, it would only be harder for him.
Click.
I lowered the phone and stared out the window, the guilt rising in my chest. For a moment, I really had felt something for Antonio. I felt that rush of new love; I felt that hope of a future. When he touched my hand, I felt the electricity. When he pressed his forehead to mine, I felt that hot connection between us.
But once Bones was back…it all meant nothing.
Bones triumphed over any man, every man.
I waited a few minutes before I returned to the living room. Bones was exactly where I left him, his coffee mug a little emptier from drinking. He leaned back against the couch, his stomach tight no matter what position he took. One arm hung over the back of the couch.
I stared at him for a while, waiting for him to look at me in return. The awkwardness was heavy since we both knew exactly what I’d just done. If someone else called me, I would have that conversation right in front of him. I’d never walked away to speak to someone before.
He finally turned to meet my eyes, his deep blue eyes gazing into mine. He didn’t ask me a single question or accuse me of anything. After several heartbeats, he looked away.
I considered telling him everything that had happened with Antonio, but I didn’t want to listen to him tell me about his conquests over the last three months. There must have been more women than I could count on two hands. “He wanted to check on me. I ended things.” It would be unfair for Bones to be angry at me, but I stayed rooted to the spot, feeling obligated to explain the situation. “I don’t want you—”
Bones rose to his feet abruptly, over six feet of power. He moved toward me, his bare feet hitting the hardwood floor beneath. With broad shoulders and a narrow waist, he was a perfect triangle. His biceps were bigger than my head. He could probably crush a whole watermelon between his two palms.