Page 132 of The Girlfriend Clause
For a long second, there was nothing.
Then a shadow shifted beneath the thin line of light at the bottom of the door.
He’d heard.
I stayed there on the carpet, my fingers pressed into the fibers, focused on the faint movement on the other side. He was close enough that I could map where he stood without seeing him. His shape leaned in toward the door, listening for me.
Then his voice came through the wood, low but easy to hear, as if there were only a foot or two between us.
“Andrea?”
I didn’t answer. What could I say without admitting I’d been crouched on the floor listening, like a teenager locked outside a bathroom at a house party?
He didn’t knock.
He could unlock the door right now, walk into my room, ask me what I was doing there on the carpet.
All he had to do was open it. He could do that.
Or I could.
“You should try to sleep,” he said after a moment. “Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”
Then his shadow shifted, and I heard footsteps retreating into the room.
I stayed where I was on the floor, my heart still racing, staring at the bottom of the door.
What would I have done if I’d seen the handle turn, seen him standing there on the other side, nothing between us but expectation?
Something I had no business even considering. Because whatever I told myself tomorrow—about Novexia, how wrong we were for each other, how I didn’t fit—I knew it didn’t matter.
If he’d opened that door, I wouldn’t have asked him to leave.
Chapter 26
Liam
Andrea was alreadyat the table when I came in, a pot of coffee in front of her. She looked different from last night, her face fresh without makeup, cheeks glowing.
Fuck. Last night.
“Morning.” I sat and looked at the menu.
“Hi.” She smiled. “I wasn’t sure how long you’d be, so I ordered coffee already.”
If we’d shared a room, we’d have come down together, but that was for real couples. Not people who listened for each other through walls and went to bed alone.
Why had she been listening? She must have heard her name when I’d told Bonnie how well she’d done with Hugo. It was only human nature that she’d want to. But the thought made my chest ache.She didn’t trustme.
I knew why. No matter how many pretty speeches I gave about systems and reform, what I was doing to Novexia hurt her. It damaged her world and the people she cared about.
I don’t know why it hadn’t been obvious to me before. I’dbeen so focused on keeping the numbers tidy, I hadn’t thought about how it affectedher.
“I’ll have the poached eggs, please,” I said to the waiter.
“Yogurt and berries for me,” she said.
It had struck me mid-speech, when I’d finally caught her eye.Trust was the only investment worthmaking.
