Page 11 of Her Pretty Words
I shrug to appear unaffected by the laugh I earned from her. “Someone probably pulled the alarm.”
She doesn’t say anything else, and when we reach the room, she doesn’t make a move to open the door. She slowly turns to me, meeting my eyes. “You might as well change your clothes in here since you need to grab your bag,” she says, gesturing to my soaked outfit.
I tuck myself into the closet and struggle to pull my wet pants down my legs. I put the outfit I wore earlier back on and when I step out, I hear the water running in the bathroom, so I take this time to hang my soaked clothes to dry.
Shortly after I hear the shower turn off, Macy comes out in her pajamas. She eyes my attire. “You don’t have anything else to wear?” she asks with a frown.
“It’s all in my checked bag.”Still at the airport.
She rummages through her suitcase and pulls out a T-shirt that’s too big for her and some sweatpants. “You can wear this.”
I glance at the men’s clothes, wanting to ask why she has them, but her phone rings. I glance at it since it rests on the bed right where she layed the clothes for me.
The name Walter flashes across the screen.
Chapter 4
Macy
“When will you be home? I’m starving.” Walter’s voice comes through the receiver as soon as I answer his call.
My eyes clash with Grayson’s.
“I’m…in New York.”
The line goes silent. The only sound is my breath that begins to feel heavy.
“What?”
I amble to the other end of the small room to gain some privacy. “I just needed a break.” I sigh.
“Hold on, bro,” he says to someone. “Macy, what the fuck are you talking about?” I hear familiar gunshots in the background. He’s playing video games as we speak. It’s already ten p.m. in Idaho, and he’s just now asking where I am? No, he’s asking when I’ll be back to feed him. I clutch the phone, my knuckles no doubt paperwhite. I’m seconds from chucking the expensive device it into the wall, if only so I have an excuse not to speak to him.
“Order a pizza. I don’t know when I’ll be back.” I hit the red button, ending the call, before I can do anything irrational. Like call off my wedding.
Grayson looks at the clothes I gave him on the bed, slowly picking up the T-shirt and inspecting it. I’m not surprised Walter’s clothes made it into the dryer with mine, considering he rarely does his own laundry. “You have a boyfriend.”
“Fiancé,” I correct him.
His eyes drop to my left hand, searching for a diamond that isn’t there.
“I lost it. My ring,” I whisper.
His eyebrows come together while he nods carefully, and then long legs carry him to me. “You’re engaged?” His eyes search mine like he’s trying to understand. “Why are you here, Macy?” he asks.
“I—” I think back to the beginning of my day.
I woke up to the bed empty, like I do nearly every morning now. I found Walter asleep in the spare room on his gaming chair. His headset was still on, and his controller rested on his lap. I stared at him for far too long.
You should look at your partner and feel…something. A warmth in your belly or a flutter in your chest. At least that’s how my characters feel when they’re in love. It felt as though the wind was knocked straight out of my lungs.
It was wrong, soincrediblywrong. In the process of writing romance, I couldn’t help but dream of my own great love story. And the scene before me certainly wasn’t it.
His tired red eyes shot open, startling me. “Did you wake me up with breakfasts or are you just here to nag me about something?”
He only seeks me out when he needs something. And when I need the bare minimum from him, he calls it nagging. Love isn’t finding your significant other valuable when it benefits you.
A million thoughts swirled through my mind, but the one I clung to like an anchor wasI don’t deserve this.So, I left, and I have no idea when I’m going back.