Page 124 of The Virgin Romance Novelist Chronicles
There had been many a time where I’d read a book and thought,God, what was the author thinking?Well, duh, it’s real life. People were idiots in real life and didn’t see what was right in front of them until they lost it. Life really wasn’t a bunch of sunshine and rainbows. Nope. People made mistakes, and often, they couldn’t see past their noses to find the one man who’d had been a constant in their life was actually made for them.
Sam Smith was right when he said, “Too much of a good thing won’t be good anymore,” especially if you don’t give it the attention it needs.
My stomach flipped as I imagined not being able to patch things up, but losing Henry forever.
Not wanting to waste any more time, I charged through the apartment door to find piles of boxes scattered across our living room.
What the hell?
Is he really moving?
I walked around the boxes to Henry’s door, which was closed, but I could hear voices on the other side. Lightly knocking, I waited for Henry to answer.
Were the boxes his? There was no way he’d found a place that quickly. Maybe they were Delaney’s. Maybe she’d failed to tell me she was moving in with Derk or maybe Derk had moved in with us.
Henry’s door opened and on the other side, to my absolute dismay was Tasha. She was wearing one a tight fitting, leather dress, something I could never pull off and her hair was in thick waves, beautiful as ever. Just past her, Henry was standing off to the side, a lifeless expression on his face as he buttoned his shirt sleeve.
What the fuck?
My heart sputtered in my chest from what was in front of me.
Henry and Tasha?
Did they just have sex? I hated to assume, but since Henry was meticulous about making his bed every morning and at the moment, the sheets were tossed and disarray, I couldn’t help but think that maybe they did.
He and I slept together three days ago. Three. Days. Ago.And he’s . . .Everyone was wrong. Henry didnotwant me.
He’d lied. It had all been an act. I was such a fool. A very broken-hearted fool.
“Rosie. Oh my God, it’s been so long,” Tasha said, grabbing me into a hug. Involuntarily, I felt my arms wrap around her and take part in the spontaneous hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’d missed you. Can you believe Henry is moving in with me? Crazy, right?”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded my head as I cautiously eyed Henry behind Tasha, who failed to make eye contact with me.Coward.
“I’m happy for you.” At least that’s what I thought I’d mumbled. I could barely breathe.
“Do you want to help pack? We’re aiming for a Saturday move but we’ll see.” She crossed her fingers up and down and bounced in front of me. The girl was perfect with her caramel-colored hair, olive skin, and bright blue eyes. She was the girl you chose to hate just based off looks but was as sweet as could be. I despised the woman.
“Fingers crossed,” I said, feeling like I was going to puke. “Um, seems like I caught you two in a bad spot. I will, uh, let you get back to what you were doing.”
“You’re sweet. It was so good to see you, Rosie.”
“You too, Tasha.”
She shut the door on me, leaving my heart broken and scattered on the floor. He called her Sunday?
Sunday!
He clearly hadn’t felt what I’d felt to have called Tasha so soon after our coupling.
Every nerve in my body ached as I forced myself to walk to the kitchen for a bottle of water. Just when I thought I could fix things, it blew up in my face. I only had myself to blame.
As I was grabbing a water from the fridge, I heard Henry’s door open and shut. I refused to turn around to see if it was Henry, but there was no mistaking his chest against my back.
“Hi Rosie,” he said in that deep voice of his.
“Hey,” I replied somberly, as I shut the fridge and started walking away.
“Can we talk?” he asked, sounding a little desperate.
