Chapter Twenty-Four
Twelve days.
It took Jude twelve days to call Bryna back.
She saw his name on her phone, and she wasn’t sure which emotions she conjured first. Anger, joy, frustration, hope—they all hit her with an onslaught.
He was calling!
He was calling now after all this time? What had taken him so long?
She wouldn’t know the answer to any of her questions if she didn’t answer the phone. With a rush of courage, she swiped the touch screen to the side. “Hello?”
“Bri,” he said in relief.
“Hi, Jude.” Anger was winning out. How dare he make her wait this long!
“How are you?”
She remembered back to when she had first met him, and he had made her wait five weeks before he called. She had tried to be cool and collected, playing it off, but it had bothered her. And it bothered her more now.
“Frustrated and confused. I don’t like to skirt around issues. We need to talk.”
“You’re right. I should have called you right away, like I said I would. I was pissed and irrational, but,” he said softly, “Bri, I’ve missed you so much.”
Her resolve weakened slightly at those words. God, she had missed him. Even if she was angry and uncertain about the state of their relationship, she had still wanted to rush over to him and make it all right. How was he able to pull such emotions out of her? “I missed you, too. But how could you make me wait like this? It’s not like I was the only one in the wrong. You lied to me about where you were going to be. What were you even doing there?”
“I know. I had planned to be out of town for work, but I ended up staying in town instead.”
“Why?” she asked. She had been thinking about this since that night. She couldn’t figure out why he had skipped his work plans to go to the hotel for New Year’s. There had to be a reason.
“I was still working. A lot of my clients were there that night.”
“You keep saying that, but I don’t know what it means. The more I think about it, the more my imagination runs away with me. What do you do?”
Jude sighed. “It’s really not that crazy.”
“Then, why do you have to hide it from me?”
“You act as if you don’t have any secrets when I caught you kissing another man,” he accused.
“I didn’t kiss anyone. If you had let me explain instead of avoiding me, you would have known the truth.”
“I saw what happened, Bri. I was standing right there.”
“If you had been there the whole time, then you would have seen me slap him across the face and storm off. Because that’s what I did!” she said, her voice rising.
“Really?” he asked. He sounded like he didn’t believe her, but he wanted to. At least he was intrigued and listening to her side. She had wanted to say this for almost two weeks. Now the floodgates opened.
“Yes! I went with him as a friend, and then he got swept up in the moment at midnight. I chewed him out for trying anything because I’m dating you. I only want you.” She felt her anger dwindling. It was replaced with sadness at the fact that any of this had to be said at all.
“Who was he?”
“Does it matter?” she asked. “Either you believe me when I say he is just a friend and I never intended for that to happen, or you don’t.”
The line was silent for a minute.
“I believe you. I simply wonder if you would have ever told me that he kissed you if I hadn’t seen it for myself.”
Would she have? Probably not. It hadn’t meant anything to her, and he wouldn’t have needed to know. She knew he would have been pissed. If she had been in his shoes and he had been with someone else on New Year’s, she would have been pissed, too.
“I didn’t think so,” he said.
“What do you want me to say, Jude? I never would have hidden that I was with my friend on New Year’s if we were able to be honest with each other. You could have told me that you were going to be at Chateau Marmont for work, and then we could have met up and had a proper New Year’s kiss. Instead, we’re stuck behind this veil of mystery. You won’t trust me with your secrets, so how can I trust you with mine?” she asked hopelessly.
“You’re right,” he said softly. “I think it’s time I tell you everything and let you decide what this is once you have all the facts.”
“I’d like that.”
In truth, it terrified her a bit. What was he hiding that could make her change her mind about him? Would he change his mind about her? Guess she would find out.
“I can get away tonight,” she told him.
He groaned. “Unfortunately, I’m not free until next weekend. This time, I actually am out of town. I’m in Chicago.”
“Oh.” Great. Just what she wanted to do, wait another week before they could get all of this out in the open. Not to mention—she missed him and wanted to be with him every second. His job was so inconvenient. Though it did have it’s advantages.
“How about next weekend?” he suggested.
She swallowed. “Sounds good.”
It could all be over by next weekend.