Page 64 of Lovestruck at Sundown
The door slid open, and my eyes widened for a few beats, stunned by the presence of the man standing before me—a man I used to love.
“Murph.”
Nathan froze atthe sight of me and gripped the width of the door, slowly sliding it further open. It’d been months since I last saw him. Five months, to be precise, on Lily and Joel’s engagement party when he almost proposed.
When I stopped him from doing so.
“What are you doing here?” His tone wasn’t rude but mostly surprised, and his greyish-green eyes, which I knew well, swelled with emotion.
Seeing him stirred up feelings I didn’t need to be stirred. Not now, not ever. But especially not when I felt this lonely, angry, and miserable after my failed Thanksgiving dinner with my dad. The added stress from those tabloid headlines wasn’t helping either.
“I …” My gaze dropped to my feet as I readjusted my purse’s strap on my shoulder and slid my cold hands inside my coat pockets. But I swallowed the growing lump in my throat and quickly flicked my attention back to his lovely green eyes. “I just came back from dinner with my …fuck.” I tossed the last word to the side with a whisper.
My voice cracked, so I turned around, intending to leave since there was no use in pretending I could hang out with theSjöbergs while Nathan was present.
“What’s wrong?” He grabbed my arm but quickly let go of it when I looked up to meet his worried face.
“I’m sorry.” I took a deep breath to make the tears stop, to contain the growing need to allow someone who knew me so well to comfort me. “I didn’t know you were here, or I wouldn’t have come.”
“You can stay,” he said. “We can talk.”
I parted my mouth to reply, to say no, I cannot stay, but Zara appeared under the threshold.
“Billie?” She stood next to Nathan but remained a step behind him, her body language screaming,I’ve got his back. But instead of looking at me for a reply, she searched for Nathan’s reaction, suspicion clouding her eyes. “What’s going on here?”
“Nothing,” I replied quickly, wiping the tears off my cheeks and trying to summon a smile. “I was having dinner with my dad, and Lily told me I could stop by afterward, but I didn’t think it was going to end as soon as it did, so I never confirmed.” I looked back at Nathan. “I’m sorry. I wanted to talk to Lily. Please tell her I stopped by and will call her tomorrow. Goodnight.”
I turned around and clicked the elevator button.
“I’ll leave.” Nathan’s tone was resolute. The elevator arrived. “You should stay and talk to Lily.” His words felt like a threat.Don’t you dare step inside that elevator.He turned around swiftly and headed back inside the apartment. “I’ll fetch my phone and get out of your way.”
“Nathan!” Zara seized his arm, trying to stop him from doing so as if trying to talk sense into him. “You can’t go, we were just about to—”
“Zara.” He shot a glance at her over his shoulder, making her drop his arm and stop mid-sentence. Zara kept shaking her head as she stared at how Nathan disappeared inside the apartment.
“If you’re leaving, then I’m leaving with you!” she shouted to his back.
Staying wasn’t an option. Not if it would create this much stress and conflict between Nathan, Zara, and the rest. It hadn’t been an option from the moment Nathan opened that door. He deserved to spend time with the Sjöbergs, especially Joel, his best friend. William not being around must’ve made it easier for Nathan to find the time to do so, and I wouldn’t be the one to take that opportunity away from him.
The elevator chimed when the doors opened, making Zara face me again.
“You guys shouldn’t have to leave because of me,” I told her. “I didn’t mean to show up unannounced. I honestly didn’t know he’d be here.”
“I agree.” Zara crossed her arms at her chest. “I think it’s best if you leave.”
Her words stung and felt like a hot dagger burning through my chest. I knew that trying to repair my relationship with Zara wouldn’t be an easy feat, but I wasn’t expecting her reaction to hurt that much.
I didn’t blame her. She was stuck in the middle of wanting to protect Nathan and support William. But when William wasn’t around, her loyalty would inevitably sway toward Nathan. I wondered where it would lie if they were both present. What would she do then?
It didn’t matter because she freaking hated me, that was an unfortunate fact, but I hated even more that I cared so much.
I stepped inside the elevator, and as the doors slid closed, I heard Nathan shout, “Murph!” and Lily yell, “Billie!”
But I ignored them and fled the scene because staying would only stir up more drama. I didn’t have the strength or energy to deal with the conflict of their family dynamics on top ofthe ridiculous claims from the media that kept nagging me in the back of my brain and draining me of the precious energy I needed to fulfill my day-to-day responsibilities.
When I walked into my apartment, my phone rang. It was Lily, but I didn’t pick up. If I did, we would be talking for a while, and I wanted her to forget about me for tonight and keep enjoying herself. Besides, I’d soon be able to talk to William and sort things through.
My doorbell rang at the same time as my phone. God. I knew better than to expect Lily to back off by ignoring her calls. Of course, she would come down looking for me after what happened.
