Page 114 of Bleeding Hearts Duet

“We are moving out.” Nicole fiddled with a packet of sugar, her eyes looking everywhere but at him. “Brighton and I got an apartment together. In fact, we moved this weekend.”

“Oh.” Matt’s tone dropped. “Where at?”

“Well, I think for now, it would be best if nobody else knew.”

Matt narrowed his eyes and worked his jaw. He definitely wasn’t happy about this. At all.

“Nicole…”

“I’m not accountable to you,” she cut him off. “I don’t have to tell you where I’m at or what I’m doing.”

I shot her a pleading glance. I knew she wasn’t telling him because he would worry, but this wasn’t the way to go about it. She was only pushing him further away.

“Right.” He stood up and set down his unfinished coffee. “I get it, Nicole. I was just trying to look out for you. As a friend. Because that’s what friends do. But I guess I had it all wrong.”

Her lip wobbled, but she didn’t say another word. So Matt walked out the door.

***

I collapsed onto my bed with a sigh. Today had been exhausting already, and I still had to work in an hour. I was nervous as hell.

Working as a receptionist was easy for me because it took minimal coordination. Waitressing on the other hand… I didn’t know how I was going to handle it. But how hard could it be?

My phone chimed. I was afraid to even look at it, but I couldn’t resist.

Missing you, baby girl.

The office isn’t the same without you.

They were Ryland’s usual texts. But as I scrolled down, I noticed there were a lot more today. And panic set in when I realized why.

Why were you at the doctor, Brighton?

What’s wrong?

Don’t punish me this way.

I need to know you’re okay.

Please, baby girl.

I stopped reading. I knew he’d be freaking out and thinking the worst. It hurt me, but I couldn’t break my rule. I couldn’t text him back. Because that would be opening a door I wouldn’t be able to close again. And I needed to be more concerned about the fact that he knew what I was doing.

It was that guy loitering outside of the building, it had to be.

I needed to be more careful. The last thing I wanted was for Ryland to figure out where I was living.

---