Page 7 of Seven Days
How does he look so damn good at his age? I know he’s a few years younger than my dad, but still, I swear I could see ab definition. And don’t even get me started on his arms and hands. I guess a surgeon would need to have steady hands, but his are aged in a way that makes me think he knows what he is doing beyond the operating room.
He certainly knew what he was doing in my fantasy.
I squirm in my seat, squeezing my legs together. It’s so incredibly inappropriate to be lusting over my dad’s best friend, a man over twice my age, as he drives me to my apartment.
Maybe that’s why I’m so fixated on Thomas. To avoid thinking about the emotional task in front of me. I know it won’t be easy to walk into our apartment and pack up my belongings. Our apartment always smells like Trevor’s cologne. He picked most of the furniture, buying it with his first few paychecks. At least I won’t have to worry about moving anything big.
My ring catches the light, the reflection bouncing around the interior of the car, and melancholy fills my soul as I look down at my hand. I did love him. I loved this ring. I loved our life and the potential of what we had together. Heat burns my eyes as my chest constricts and a small sob breaks through as I fight back the tears. Thomas reaches down into the center console and hands me a tissue. Thankfully, he does all of it without taking his eyes off the road. I hate letting people see me cry.
Crumpling up the tissue in my hand, I look out the window as we get closer to LA, blinking to clear the remaining tears. I jump, startled when Thomas’s hand reaches over and squeezes my thigh.
“It’ll be okay,” his deep voice rumbles between us. “He’s an idiot for cheating on you.”
I manage to nod and give him a tremulous smile. Despite being upset, heat pools in my belly as his hand lingers, the heat seeping through the material of the sweatpants I borrowed from him. A part of me wishes I could feel his skin against mine.
Rolling my lip between my teeth, I allow myself to think back to last night after my shower. I don’t understand why it was his body I imagined against me, inside me. Clearly, I just haven’t been fucked well enough lately. Add to that the fact that I’m staying in his house and everything screams his name. I mean, fuck, every room of the place smells like his expensive cologne. Even the clean clothes I’m wearing.
I fight the urge to pout when he pulls his hand away from my leg. It’s almost like he forgot for a minute that he was touching me.With his left hand relaxed on the wheel and his right resting on the gearshift, he exudes a sort of effortlessly confident masculinity. Aside from his watch, there’s nothing screams wealth about him.
He’s exceptionally handsome, though. His once jet black hair has a few strands of silver threaded through, but it doesn’t age him. His deep green eyes, straight roman nose, and perfect lips make a striking profile along with his sharp jaw. His eyes crinkle in the corner when he gives a rare smile.
We pull up to my building and I hand him the card that opens the door to the underground parking garage, directing him to the loading bay parking area. He puts his hand on my lower back as we step onto the elevator but, as I hit the button for my floor, nerves take off inside me.
“What if Trevor didn’t go on his work trip?” I blurt out the question as my stomach turns.
“You don’t have to worry about him with me here, okay?” Thomas turns me and tilts my head back with his finger under my chin. “I’ll keep him away from you while you pack.”
He waits until I answer with a nod before dropping his hand and eye contact. He motions for me to go first when the elevator opens and I lead us down the hall until we come to my door. My hand shakes as I push the key inside the lock, but Thomas leans against the wall and gives me as much time as I need.
I don’t know what will be on the other side of this door. An angry fiancé? A regretful one? It doesn’t matter, because the one thing I will never tolerate is infidelity. He could drop to his knees and kiss my toes and it wouldn’t change a damn thing.
I push the door open with a deep breath. Blessed silence greets me as I cross the threshold into the wide hallway that leads past the bedroom and office and into the living area. Pulling open the hall closet, I see his suitcase is missing. Good. He did go. I grab every remaining piece of luggage and drag them into the bedroom, setting them on the bed and opening them up.
“Do you want help?” Thomas asks from where he fills the door frame.
I look around the room and try to think of what he could help with. “You want to go through and grab the photos that belong to me? Just the ones with Mom and Dad.”
“I can do that,” he says before disappearing down the hall.
I busy myself in the closet, grabbing my clothes in armfuls and dumping them into suitcases. Even though I know Trevor is out of town I want to limit my time here. If I pause too long, I’ll feel all the emotions I’m trying to fight back. I don’t want to cry. I don’t want to feel this hurt. I just want to stay numb until it’s so far past it feels more like a blip than a broken heart.
My phone dings in my purse and I fish it out, dropping it when I see Trevor’s face on the screen. He’s FaceTiming me. For a second I think about just declining it, but then I realize he should see me packing up my things from our apartment.
“Hello?” My tone is as cold as ice.
“Brianna, thank fuck you finally answered.” His blond hair is perfectly sculpted the way he likes, but his mouth is set in a straight line. “I know it looks bad, but it’s not what you think and you can’t just run off like that. Where’d you even go?”
“Somewhere safe.” I make a show of packing for him to see. “How did you know I was back here?”
“I turned on my desk webcam to watch for you. What are you doing?” he asks incredulously.
“Getting my things out of the apartment. I’ll be completely gone by the end of the day.” I can’t believe he turned on a camera in here to watch and wait for me.
“You can’t be serious.” He’s practically yelling at me now. “It’s not that big of a deal. You don’t have anywhere to go.”
“I have plenty of places to go. Thousands, really.” I look him dead in the eye, making sure to stay as emotionless as possible. “Anywhere where you’re not, is a perfectly fine place for me. Goodbye, Trevor.”
My eyes heat with oncoming tears as I hit end on the call. Giving myself three minutes to cry and feel sorry for myself, I let them roll down my cheeks, swiping them away as quickly as they come. When I look at the clock and see my time is up, I force myself off the bed and back to the closet.