Page 67 of Meant For Love
“I’ve shown her how I feel every single fucking day.”
“But you’ve never said ‘Zoey, I’m in love with you’?” I tap the top of my desk. “Dude, you can’t be that dumb.” He laughs. “You can show her a million different ways, but it doesn’t replace the words.”
“Yeah,” I say, not sure I agree with him, “it’s just that?—”
“Stop being a chickenshit and just fucking tell her how you feel.” I look at the door. “Just tell her.” I take a deep breath in. “Might not solve all your problems, but at least she’ll know how you feel.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” I tell him. “Thanks.” The knock on the door makes me look over. “I’ll call you back.” I hang up the phone before I yell, “Come in!”
The door opens, and Zoey sticks her head in, and my heart speeds up. “You busy?”
“For you, never,” I reply as she comes into the room. “I was just coming to find you anyway.” I smile at her. “What’s up?”
“I was just on the phone with Gabriella,” she mentions her cousin, “and she’s in LA, but she’s leaving this afternoon to go to New York, so I was thinking of hitching a ride with her.” I stare at her. “Unless you want me to stay?”
I think about laying my heart out to her, but at this moment, she might reject it, and I just can’t do it. Instead, I tell her the words I don’t even want to say, yet say them anyway. “If you want to go early, you should go.”
Twenty-Nine
Zoey
I stand here in front of him asking, begging him, to tell me to stay. To give me something, anything. My heart beats erratically in my chest, my breathing feels like I’m panting, my stomach feels like it’s in my throat forming a huge ball.
“If you want to go early, you should go.” The words come out of his mouth, and it feels like I’m being crushed. The only thing I can think of is, this is what it’s like to have your heart broken. This is that feeling I’ve never felt before. Either that or I’m having a heart attack.
I straighten my shoulders. “Good,” I say, trying to keep my shit together. “I’ll tell her that I’ll go with her.” I nod, turning and hoping like fuck he calls my name. Every single step I get closer to the door is one step I get farther and farther away from him. I grab the handle of the door, shutting it behind me without looking over to see him.
“Is he free?” Kailyn says to me, and I look at her.
“He’s all yours,” I answer before walking back to my side of the office, where I grab my phone and text Gabriella.
Me: I’m good to go when you are. Even if you want to leave early.
I put my phone down and look at my computer screen, wondering if I’m even going to get any work done. I’m pretty sure the whole office can feel we are fighting, or it might be in my head. Either way, I feel the need to get the fuck out of here, and I’m saved when Gabriella answers me back.
Gabriella: Oh, that’s even better. Romeo just got a plane for noon. Is that too early? Can you make it work? We should land in New York by six thirty, max seven.
Me: That works perfectly for me. I’ll meet you at the airport in about an hour and a half.
Gabriella: Want us to come and get you?
Me: No, I have to swing by home and grab some things, so I’ll just meet you there.
I have never lied to my cousin in my life, except for this moment right here. I’m not going home. I’m going straight to the airport from here because going home will just make it harder for me to leave. Every single minute that goes by I look at his office door, waiting for it to open. Every single time it does, I hold my breath, but then I see it’s always Kailyn coming out to get something at her desk and then going back inside.
I order myself a car, and when it’s five minutes before, I get up and head toward his office. I’m about to knock when Kailyn comes out again. “Hey,” I say, and she closes the door behind her, “is he busy?”
“He just got on the phone with his father and brother,” she replies, her body shielding the door. “He asked not to be disturbed.” I smile at her, and she must think I’m going to turn around and walk away, but I’m pissed at all the things today, so I fold my arms over my chest.
“I’ll take my chances.” I reach over her shoulder and knock on the door. “If you’ll excuse me.” I wait for her to move away from the door, and she just smirks at me as she saunters away.
I turn the door handle, suddenly nervous he’ll be pissed I’m interrupting him, so I just stick my head in. He looks up from his computer. “Sorry, I know you told Kailyn you don’t want to be disturbed”—his eyebrows pinch together—“but I’m heading out and just wanted you to know.”
“I’ll call you back,” he says immediately to the screen and closes the top of the computer before getting up. “What do you mean you’re heading out now?” He walks around the desk.
I walk into the room. “Gabriella got an earlier flight so—” I stop when I’m standing in front of him. “And the car will be here in a couple of minutes.”
“You ordered yourself a car?” he asks, looking out the window at the parking lot.