Page 26 of Fall of Us
My throat closed off the second he answered the phone. It was worse that he sounded like he didn’t know who was calling. There was the chance he’d deleted my number from his phone. I probably should have done the same, but at the moment, I was glad that I hadn’t.
“Did you know?” My voice shook as I tried not to sound too accusatory. But it was impossible. The anger festered, threatening to break free.
There was a sigh and a long pause. “Brandon? Did I know what?”
My eyes closed as I tried to steady my breathing. It was possible he didn’t. He could also be playing dumb. “I just...” my voice cracked as I tried to keep it together. “I just got off the phone with the clinic. Seems that I need to go pick up a prescription.”
The silence stretched before my ex let out another sigh. “To be honest, I just found out myself, but I thought I got it after we split, so I didn’t think about calling you.”
I wanted to laugh. “It’s barely been two weeks. What do you mean you thought you got it after we split?”
“I’m sorry.”
That wasn’t enough, even if he sounded remorseful. It didn’t excuse that he’d been dishonest. “So, was it all an excuse to get rid of me? You’d been seeing someone else?”
He laughed. “It’s not like you were completely there with me. Not emotionally, anyway. You can deny your feelings for your friend all you want, but I never stood a chance next to him.”
I’d never meant to make him feel that way, but it didn’t excuse him for being unfaithful. “I need to let you go. I guess I’m glad you know you need to get treated.” As fast as I could, my thumb smashed the button to end the call. Now I just needed to figure out how the hell I was going to tell Andrew.
God, why was this so hard? After lifting my fist to knock for the fifth time, I was ready to give up and go home. Knowing Andrew wouldn’t judge me didn’t make this any easier.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and when I pulled it out, I let out an audible sigh at the message.
Andrew: Are you still coming over?
I’d been there for the last twenty minutes, just standing there. It was time to get the balls and just knock.
Turned out that I didn’t need to knock when it swung open. And there was Andrew in a pair of low-slung sweats and a button-up opened to expose strong, tanned abs and a dusting of dark hair on his chest. My mouth ran dry at the sight and my eyes burned to see the candles and bottle of wine sitting on the counter. He’d wanted to make tonight special, and I was about to shit all over it.
“You’re here?”
“Yeah?” Jesus, the squeak in my voice was pathetic. If I continued, he’d think I was nervous, but it wasn’t about sex. Okay, I was totally nervous about that as well.
Andrew moved out of the doorway, leaning against the frame to let me in. I swallowed thickly as I entered his space, my hands growing slick with sweat as I took in his tiny apartment. The lights were dimmed, and he not only had candles in the kitchen, but they were on the coffee table and nightstand. It set the romantic mood that I was about to ruin. The envelopes that contained our results were leaning against the wine bottle and I finally gave into the stinging sensation behind my eyes. I quickly wiped at the tear that streaked its way down my cheek and prayed that Andrew didn’t see it.
Chapter 17
Andrew
“Are you okay?”
I’d never once seen Brandon so nervous. His fingers twitched at his sides before he swiped at his face again. Why was he crying? I understood it was an emotional moment, but he had nothing to cry over.
“Andrew?”
The way he said my name made my heart pound, but not in a good way. Something was wrong. My eyes widened when he let the next few tears fall freely instead of wiping them away. Shit, something was really, really wrong here.
I grabbed the bottle of wine from the counter and put it back in the fridge. Instead, I fished out the bottle of tequila that was stored in the cupboard. It was more our style, anyway, and something told me that whatever was upsetting him called for the liquor.
Brandon’s smile was strained as he sat on one of the kitchen stools when I brought over the bottle. It sat between us, a sentinel to all the good and bad things that had happened in ourlives. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, instead staring at the two envelopes and more of those tears spilled down his face.
“I had to call my ex today...”
I waited for Brandon to continue, but he didn’t. Instead, he grabbed his envelope from the counter and ripped it open. He unfolded the pages and frowned as he looked them over. He wiped his face again and it was at that moment that I realized that something had happened with his results.
“Is it bad?” I didn’t know what else to say.
The laugh that burst free from Brandon startled me, but then he was wiping his face again. He didn’t stop laughing before he set the papers on the counter, and he turned toward me. “It depends on what your definition of bad is. I’m embarrassed. This has never happened before.”
