Page 134 of Love Is an Art

---

I saw the disaster that happened when my best friend’s mom trusted her new boyfriend. And yet I never learn the lesson.

And Tom knows exactly how to push my buttons—Zeke’s puppy eyes around Paisley.

Stop already with the doubts about my relationship with Zeke.

Zeke won’t betray me.

I have to trust my people. That’s the lesson from the Jack debacle.

New Lesson #1: Trust your people.

I trust Zeke. There’s no relationship without that trust. What Zeke and I have is solid.

Zeke’s puppy eyes are now for me.

My phone buzzes. It’s Wyatt.

Chapter forty-three

Zeke

Ipoweredthroughthepresentation to the venture capital partners, and Charles nodded at the end. One nod. But it’s enough. Goodbye, Arthur.

I made the cut.

My career is finally back on track. I can’t wait to tell Tessa, to hold her in my arms, and spend the night celebrating.

I cradle the box of Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies I bought to celebrate her job offer.

As I walk up her block, the streetlamps glowing in the dark, a brisk breeze crosses over from the Hudson. The bow windows of Tessa’s apartment are lit up.

A man stands there.

Miranda’s boyfriend?

I increase my pace.

The man turns to face the street. It’s Wyatt. Laughing.

Then Tessa.

Tessa reaches over him to pull the drapes shut, but he holds her arms. It looks like he walks her back. Both are out of sight.

The curtain closes.

I stand there.

I can’t breathe.

It could be nothing. She’s celebrating with her ex. The one she said was all wrong for her.

Heisall wrong for her.

But that body language in the window was not saying that.

Is Tessa cheating on me? She seemed normal last night. Except for when I first joined her and Wyatt.

I can’t lose Tessa because of my paranoia. But I’m not paranoid. I was right that Tessa did not seem like an artist.

---