Page 25 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“Oh, my gosh! David!” I took a few steps toward him and hugged him. “Congratulations! This is such great news!” I wasthrilledfor him. David mentioned back on my birthday how this was something he wanted to pursue at some point, and I was so glad Dr. Jewell was taking him under his wing. He’d just won the lottery with David.
“Thank you so much,” he said as we broke off the embrace. “Again, I owe this in part to you. Thanks to you, I met Chris, and everything worked itself out.”
“Well, yeah, but the merit is all yours.” I squeezed his shoulder. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Billie.” He smiled. “So, I guess I’ll keep seeing you around? My schedule is going to be hectic since tomorrow’s my first day with Dr. Jewell. But I’m sure we’ll keep seeing each other.”
“I would love that.”
We said our goodbyes, and I locked my door, intending to go back to bed, but I’d forgotten about the white envelope waiting for me on the foyer table. So I grabbed it and thought I could take a quick look before going back to sleep.
“Let’s see.” This was probably the surprise William mentioned would be waiting for me when I got home. I tore the flap open and pulled out the documents inside. My smile melted off my face when I started reading. “What. The. Fuck.”
William’s lawyerhad sent me a confidentiality agreement slash dating contractanda request to conduct a complete STI/STD lab work. A business card for the suggested lab was included so I could make an appointment.
Did this mean William didn’t trust me? And if so, what was the point of even dating? We were starting out, so there was still time to reconsider before it got too painful to end things. Not that it wouldn’t be either way. Receiving these documents made me feel like I was just another girl on the dating roster. Nothing special.
Another girl, another contract.
Was it best to call my dad and accept his new agreement to have my apartment back and live my life without security? Because there was no way I would be okay with any of this.
But that’s not what I wanted. I wanted William, the version of him before I received this package.
I was a messy mix of furious and sad. How could William ask me not to get mad? To trust him on this? It was too late either way because we’d been having unprotected sex for the past week, so at least that part didn’t make any sense.
With shaky hands, I grabbed my phone and texted him.
Me:Loveliest surprise to come home to. An absolute gem.
I tossed in a photo of the documents and the lab request letter with the following sentence:
Me:What is love without trust?
Then, I grabbed the documents and ripped them in half. Who knew I’d have to do that twice on the same day? What was it with everyone’s obsession to have people legally bound to them? And these were the two men who “loved me the most.”
Fuck this.
There was no way I would’ve been able to go back to bed, so I took a shower, changed into leggings and a light sweater, and poured myself some coffee. After finishing my second cup, I checked my phone and saw a few missed calls from William and a text.
W.S.:Guille pick up the phone.
I ignored him. I wasn’t in the mood to discuss something like this over the phone, and I was emotionally drained at this point. He would arrive later in the day, and I would hear him out, but I didn’t know what else he could say to get me on board or excited about the documents he’d sent my way. He’d made me feel like what we had wasn’t special enough to trust me.
It was best to cool off before he returned.
My pantry and fridge were empty, and I was starving, so I ordered a pizza from Alessandro’s and laid down on my sofa to listen to some music as I waited for it to arrive.
My doorbell rang. It was Aaron and the delivery guy. I paid for the pizza and grabbed the box. The delivery guy excused himself, but Aaron lingered.
“You’ve been crying, Miss?” His brow furrowed slightly.
“No.” I had. I cried a little bit. Or maybe a lot because I didn’t want to be in this situation. Everything felt upside down. My reality was adjusting, and I normally welcomed change; I was used to it. But things were moving erratically. And not only did I feel like I wasn’t in control, but I also actually wasn’t.
“What happened?” Aaron’s tone was cold. Things were going to be awkward between us for a while, but I didn’t want to be reminded of that on top of everything else I had going on. I loved Aaron. Ironically, having him around offered a certain stability and normalcy to my life. He was also the one person who tied me the most to Caleb’s memory. But it was bittersweet nonetheless because his presence never failed to remind me of how my father still had a firm hold on me.
Still carrying the large pizza box, I closed my eyes and sighed. I had every intention of eating my feelings, and I wanted to get to that ASAP.
“I’m guessing nothing you don’t already know,” I replied, offering him a stiff smile. “My dad is selling the apartment and wants me to move in with him. He has made it clear he disapproves of my relationship with William. So he offered me a deal: break it off with William, keep the apartment, and live without security.”
