Page 86 of Love or Leave

She stared at Jer, her jaw going slack.Had he officially ended things with Fran?

"I don't know," she said, pulling out her phone.

She sent a text, asking Antonio how things were going with the Max situation, then sat back and tried to remember why trusting Antonio was a good idea.

Antonio's reply came right away.

Antonio: He's helping me move Sunday at 8 am. I'm going to tell him as soon as he gets here.

Cara sighed a breath of relief. At least he was following through with what he'd said he'd do. She needed to give him the benefit of the doubt.

She wondered how their conversation would go. Max had a tendency to get a little protective. And if Ethan’s and Adam's reaction to her and Antonio together was any sign of how this was going to go, it might be better if they did it together.

She decided it couldn't hurt if she came too. Help her new boyfriend out.

She opened the conversation with Max and asked if she could see him on Sunday. She just needed to engineer the situation so she could tag along covertly and act as a buffer.

Max would be fine once he saw how happy they were together. And everyone else would get on board once Max knew.

Everything was going to be a-OK.

twenty-four

Antonio sat on the edge of his pullout couch, surrounded by packed boxes, and tried to rein in his foot’s involuntary bouncing. He'd tried his best to keep order in the tiny apartment, but the lack of floor space made organizing the moving boxes impossible.

The physical mess would be enough to set him on edge, but that, combined with the inner turmoil over his secretive relationship with Cara, had thrown him off the deep end.

He glanced at the clock and stood, pacing. The time was seven fifty-five. Five more minutes before Max would arrive and he would finally get some relief from all the uncertainty and anxiety. He would open the door, invite him in, and before Max could lift a single box, he'd sayI'm in love with Cara and we're together and I'm sorry we kept it from you.

Then he'd brace for impact.

After the inevitable physical assault, he and Cara would hopefully move on. He should have taken her out on dates by now, brought her flowers, built on their relationship.

He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the memories of all the times he'd talked to her about Fran and how he wanted to get back together with her. He wished he could just erase it all.

But he couldn't. All he could do now was apologize and move on.

He glanced at the clock. Two minutes to eight.

He paced the floor, two whole steps toward the window and two steps back, before finally breaking and picking up a box. He had to direct his nervous energy somewhere—and quick.

He turned and headed for the door. He almost made it there when he heard a faint knocking on it.

It was a soft knock that Max would never have made. Maybe Cara had come along?

His shoulders instantly relaxed as he set down the box on the floor and grabbed the door handle, but when he pulled it open, he didn't find Max or Cara.

He found Fran.

He stared at his ex-wife as she smiled up at him with a sad look. "Hi, Tonio."

"Uh, hi," he said, wondering why the hell she was there. She'd only ever come to his place once before, when he was with Sara.

He shook his head. "I'm busy." He hoped she'd just turn around and go away.

She looked past him into his crappy little space, then smiled up at his face. "Maria told me you were moving."

He nodded.So why are you here, then?

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