Page 75 of The One

Guess he had a lot of insecurities in life with her.

“No hard feelings,” Gillian said.

She felt an arm come around her and looked to see Rick standing there. A good six inches taller than Mike and probably had fifty pounds on him. “Hey, honey,” Rick said. “There you are. I thought you went off to get the sheets for our bed without me.”

She should have figured he’d come over and save her. Or try to. Make it sound like they lived together.

“Mike, this is, Rick. Rick, my ex. His fiancée just wanted to make sure I had no hard feelings.”

“That’s funny,” Rick said, his eyes roaming up and down the length of the shorter man. “Not sure why you would, but to each their own.” Mike frowned, realizing the insult hit him between the eyes.

“We should be on our way,” Mike said, grabbing Brandy’s hand and pulling her along.

She took a few deep breaths and then looked at Rick, who said, “You okay?”

“Yeah, why?” she asked.

“Because it doesn’t look it. I noticed it over there before I even heard what she said to you.”

Guess she didn’t have that good of a poker face. “It’s fine. I’ve never known him to be mean and that was just mean to do what he did.”

“What’s that?” he said. “Coming over to see how you were doing?”

“It was more than that and you know it. Either he wanted to rub my face in the fact he put a ring on her finger or he knew she would. She knew all about me.”

“Just like I know about him,” he said. “Let’s go. We can get sheets another day, but we should talk.”

“There’s not much to say,” she said.

“I think there is a lot to say,” he said.

Just great. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with, but Rick was right. He looked hurt too and that was something she’d never want to do.

They drove back to his house. He let George out and she sat on the couch. “I should explain.”

“Sure, go ahead,” he said, sitting next to her.

“It was a reaction. I told you that I waited for years for a ring. It’s not like it was a secret. We talked about it. He kept saying he wasn’t ready. After multiple years and conversations, I’d had enough. When I left, he didn’t even seem to care. He never asked if it was a threat or anything. He more or less said if you’re sure, then go.”

“And what do you think that means?” he asked.

“I think it means I wasn’t good enough,” she said. “I’m not sure what I was lacking that Brandy has other than she’s younger and sillier.”

“Maybe that is it,” he said. “But I think it’s more and you don’t see it. You think it’s what you did. What you’re lacking. I’m not stupid and know you still compare all your moves with me to what you did with him and try to figure out if they are right or not.”

“It’s hard not to do that when I don’t want to ruin what we’ve got,” she said, sniffling. “And it seems to me I’m doing a good job of that now.”

“No,” he said. “We can have a discussion without ruining things.”

“This is a discussion?” she asked. “Because it feels more like a fight.”

“We are talking,” he said. “That’s all. It’s on you if you turn it into more.”

She stood up. “Again, my fault. It feels like that is all I ever had to deal with.”

“No,” he said. “I said what was on my mind. I’m pretty sure I hit a nerve too.”

“You did,” she said. “I know you’re moving fast. I’m trying to tell myself to let it go and go with the flow. I’m getting there. I tell myself to stop thinking of Mike, but he creeps in and I can’t stand that.”