Page 86 of Better Left Unsaid

Every moment in between.

I couldn’t help but wonder how long he’d felt this way.

And how the heck I’d missed it.

Now, in hindsight, there were so many things I wanted to say to him. But, in that moment, when he’d turned everything on its axis with those three little words, I couldn’t. Couldn’t say a single word.

The honest to God truth was that I wasn’t sure I could believe it. It had to be the sex that was confusing things. All the sex. That was exactly what I was sure triggered my own confusion of late, so it had to be that for him, too. Maybe my dating Paolo and us taking a break from this friends-with-benefits thing was exactly what we both needed to see clearly again. Like a reset.

So, Dom said he needed a break, and that was exactly what he was going to get.

I could give him time. It was the least I could do for us, for our friendship, so we could come out stronger on the other side.

But.

I.

Had.

To.

Tell.

Someone.

I picked up my phone and called the only other person in the world who I thought would understand—Jade.

Jade had a best friend, a childhood best friend no less. Surely, she’d understand what it felt like to be me right now. Not that she lost her friend in any way. No, they weren’t stupid enough to play with fire.

“Maria?” Jade called my name when I didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, sorry,” I huffed out. “Can you come over? I need to talk.”

Without hesitation, I heard a door slam shut and Jade answer, “Is everything okay?”

Where was I to begin? Nothing was okay. Not if I was being honest. Tears stung my eyes. “Dom loves me” was all I could say, as if that was explanation enough.

And on some level, it must’ve been because Jade said, “I’m on my way.” Man, the power of sisterhood—not even being half sisters could change that.

Then I couldn’t hold the tears at bay any longer, they came.

And came.

And came.

So many tears, it was a wonder I didn’t flood my house and have to evacuate by the time Jade arrived.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Maria

Time kept movingaround me. Life kept going. But I felt stuck, like I’d stepped in cement and couldn’t move even an inch. Trust me, I’d tried, and I’d struggled.

As the days came and went, all I wanted was to talk to Dom. Desperately wanted to hear his voice. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since his confession to me at the shoot before he’d stormed out.

Giving Dom the time and space he needed might just prove to kill me. Nothing was the same without him. It was like this big black hole sat right there in my life. It was like an abyss. Yeah, that sounded right—my life was like an abyss.

If I could’ve run away from myself, I would’ve. Hell, even Paolo had run for the hills. Well, not really. He had to go back to Italy for a work emergency, and I had very gently let him know that I didn’t think us pursuing anything further was a good idea. Even before Dom had dropped his great big bombshell, I had known that Paolo was a good man, just not the right man for me.

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