Page 40 of Now That It's You
“How about you?” he asked. “Do your imaginary arguments go differently this time around?”
“Yes,” Meg murmured. “It’s stupid. I’ve been sticking up for myself a lot more, making these clever, well-thought out arguments in my own defense, and then I just feel like a dumbass for fighting with a dead guy.”
“A dead guy you hadn’t seen for two years.”
“Exactly. Who does that?”
“Both of us, apparently. It must be another one of those stages of grieving.”
“I suppose.” She didn’t say anything thing for a moment. When he felt her tilt sideways, he put a hand on her waist to steady her.
“Sorry,” he said when he felt her jump.
“It’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting you to touch me.”
“I wasn’t trying to touch you. Not like that, I mean. I couldn’t tell if you were tipping over.”
She chuckled in the darkness. “I’m not that clumsy. Besides, I took off my heels already.”
“Smart.”
“I was trying to see if the door locked.”
“It doesn’t. I already checked.”
They both went quiet again, and Kyle thought it might be time to leave. Their closet conversation had run its course, and he’d probably be wise to get out of here before someone found them like this.
But then he heard her voice again, soft and hesitant. “Tell me about Cara.”
The words caught him by surprise, but he kept his expression flat even though she probably couldn’t see it. “What do you want to know?”
“You were together a long time. Why did you split up?”
He laughed. “We’re at my brother’s funeral and you want to talk about why my girlfriend dumped me?”
“Sorry. We don’t have to?—”
“It’s okay,” Kyle said, not really minding the question. “Like I told you the other night, I wasn’t that broken up about it. Not sad enough to even muster a few tears.”
“What happened?”
“The short version? She wanted to get married and have babies.”
“What’s the long version?”
“She wanted to get married and have babies and I didn’t.”
“Thanks for elaborating.”
Kyle shrugged, wondering why she was asking. “It was nice while it lasted, but ultimately we just wanted different things.”
It was the truth, though maybe not the whole story. Guilt twisted his gut as he remembered Cara’s tears, the hurled accusations. You’ll never look at me the way I’ve seen you look at?—
“Did you know Matt didn’t want to marry me?”
“What?” He blinked in the darkness, trying to read Meg’s expression instead of just her tone, which was soft and cautious.
“Matt. He never wanted to get married. Not to me, anyway.”
