Page 59 of Hard To Love

“Well hello there, gorgeous!” My eyes blinked in surprise to see Chase’s friend, Nick, standing in front of me. I immediately stood up and greeted him with a hug. He warmly returned the embrace as he tried to balance his bag of pastries and his cup of coffee.

“How are you?” I asked sitting down and noticing that he was staring at Brad.

He set his coffee down and extended his hand, “Nick Mason. Nice to meet you.”

Brad looked over at me with a questioning glance, wondering why I was acting so nervous. He accepted Nick’s hand and returned the greeting. “Brad Morgan. Nice to meet you as well.”

“Come here often?” I asked placing my napkin on my lap while trying to keep my jittery hands busy. I immediately felt awkward and started to wonder how much he knew about our recent break up.

Nick kept glancing between Brad and I, as if he was trying to figure out who he was to me. “I’m actually headed to the courthouse, so I’m making a quick stop for breakfast. My law clerk has requested the blueberry muffins and since she does all the hard work in my job, I figure this is the least I can do to keep her happy.” He said with a grin.

“This law clerk wouldn’t happen to be the smart, attractive female you mentioned the last time I saw you, would it?” I tilted my head to the side, my tone was filled with sarcasm.

A laugh rumbled from his chest as he placed his hand over his heart. “One in the same. But she doesn’t hold a candle to you.”

I could sense Brad tensing up at this conversation, but he had no idea how harmless Nick was.

I shook my head and laughed, “Nick, you are still the biggest flirt on the island of Manhattan.”

He shot me a wicked grin. “You know it, baby! Now if you will excuse me, I need to get these muffins over to the court house or I’ll find myself without a date tonight.”

Just as he turned to leave, his phone started buzzing in his pocket. I watched as he grabbed it with his free hand just in time to see Chase’s name on the screen as he pulled the phone from his pants.

I felt my stomach drop. Nick sensed my unease, and gave me a sympathetic smile. He reluctantly raised the phone to his ear to take the call.

I tried not to panic, but was unsuccessful. Closing my eyes, I willed my mind and body to relax a bit. I could feel Nick’s gaze on me as he spoke into the phone, “Yes, I’m on my way.” He turned his head away from me, making it hard for me to hear his half of the conversation.

Suddenly he started to speak loudly for my benefit. “I’ll disregard that last comment, as well as the fact that you’ve been on your damn period for the past few weeks. I’ll be there soon. Have everything ready when I get there.” He abruptly ended the call and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until Nick hung up the phone. “It was good seeing you, Emily…”

I detected a slight pause like he wanted to say more, but I cut him off before he had a chance to respond. “It was nice seeing you, too. I’m glad we ran into each other. Don’t be a stranger.” I saw his features soften as he stared into my eyes and reached in to give me a hug. Next, he turned to Brad and politely nodded, and said goodbye. A second later he walked out the door.

When my head swung back to Brad, I realized he had been silent during the entire exchange. I felt his gaze on me, but I looked everywhere else except into his eyes. He leaned back then folded his arms across his chest.

“So, I take it the person on the other end of the phone was the asshole you were seeing?”

I looked up at the ceiling, and searched for a reply to his question, but nothing came out. I silently nodded my head.

“I figured as much by your reaction.” Brad shook his head from side to side with his jaw twitching slightly, “He’s not worth it, Emily. He’s not worth a second of your thoughts.”

“It’s not that simple.” I wanted to say more but I stopped myself. Lines were getting blurred and I could see where this would be difficult for Brad. It was another bad decision on my part, to think that he would be okay with all of this. It was so wrong of me to lean on him, when I knew deep down he still wanted more.

As if he could read my thoughts, he stood up, throwing a few singles on the table for the waitress. “Look, I got to run. I’ll talk to you later okay?”

“Sure. Have a good day at work. Tell Sawyer I said hello. We’ll catch up again soon.”

As I watched Brad walk out the door I made a promise to myself that I would put some distance between us. He needed to move on, and my friendship with him was only holding him back.

Besides, I still had my own heart to piece back together. These past three weeks

had been the worst in my entire life. I thought as time went on it would get easier, but if anything, it had only gotten harder. My heart ached for Chase so deeply that it physically hurt. I found myself almost wishing I had never met the man so I wouldn’t have to go through this unbearable pain.

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