Page 26

Still, she pushed the blankets off and padded barefoot into the kitchen.

After crying so hard, she was thirsty. But when she looked in her kitchen cabinet, there were only five glasses on the shelf.

Carys looked around. She didn’t bother putting anything in the dishwasher because she lived alone.

Running the dishwasher for one person seemed unnecessary, so Carys preferred to hand wash her dishes.

However, there were no glasses in the drying rack.

Nor had she left the missing glass elsewhere in her apartment.

The apartment consisted of a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.

There was a small, stacked washer and dryer in the closet, but there wasn’t any other place where one might leave a glass.

Since Carys had bought a set of six glasses when she’d moved into this apartment, and she hadn’t broken any, her only conclusion was that someone had to have been in her apartment.

She hesitated, looking around and listening hard. But there were no sounds. Nothing moved. The only sounds she heard were her breathing and her pounding heart.

But there was no movement. Carys remembered earlier that someone had knocked on her door and she’d kept quiet and still. Had someone else hidden themselves in her apartment, remaining perfectly still, while she slept?

A shiver of fear ripped through her and Carys looked around, trying to find a place to hide.

But her apartment was so small and there weren’t many places to hide.

Her living room was only large enough for a sofa and television.

There was a small, low coffee table, but it wasn’t big enough to hide anyone.

The coat closet was barely large enough for a few coats. Could someone be in her bathroom?

Carys crept to the bathroom, trying not to make any sound or move too fast. If someone was in her apartment, she didn’t want to startle them.

The thought occurred to her that, if she did find someone in her place, what was her plan?

Confront the culprit with…her frazzled hair?

After spending the last twelve hours under the covers, it was a pretty good bet that her hair looked like she’d stuck her finger in a wall socket.

But, when she looked, no one was in the bathroom.

That’s when she remembered the cameras! She’d bought two security cameras!

With trembling fingers, she reached for her phone. But before she could check the security app, she found there were more than twenty missed calls from Rafi. Carys remembered seeing Rafi, the man she’d thought she loved, kissing her best friend.

Almost immediately, she slumped down onto her bed, the phone dangling from her fingertips. She should call him back, tell him that he was a bastard and she hated him for betraying her like this.

But Rafi didn’t know that Andi was Carys’s best friend. That’s when she remembered that she was supposed to meet Andi for coffee. Andi must have been going to introduce Carys to her new boyfriend.

Who just happened to also be Carys’s boyfriend.

This wasn’t Andi’s fault. Her friend had no idea that they were dating the same guy.

Carys suddenly realized that she needed to tell Andi about how they’d been with the same guy.

Their lives had been pretty chaotic lately.

Andi had started a new job that took her all over the world while Carys was busy launching new ad campaigns with a new supervisor.

No, that wasn’t right. Carys had been seeing Rafi for a couple of months now.

While Andi had only met her guy a few weeks ago.

Yes, that was right. Andi had only mentioned a new guy in her life two, maybe three, weeks ago.

Had it been longer? Had it actually been four weeks?

Or longer? Maybe Andi just hadn’t mentioned anything to Carys about her new love life.

Carys fell backward across her bed, ignoring the mess of blankets underneath her as the tears flowed again. What had happened between her and Rafi three or four weeks ago? What had she done or said that would have pushed him into the arms of another woman?

Carys wiped angrily at a tear with the back of her hand, sniffling and trying to breathe.

But the pain was overwhelming. She rolled onto her side, curling into a ball as she thought back over the past couple of months.

Being with Rafi had seemed so…effortless.

They talked and laughed easily together.

The sex was phenomenal! Of course, she hadn’t slept with many men so her sample size was pretty small, but Carys instinctively knew that sex wasn’t usually as incredible as it was between her and Rafi.

It simply wasn’t! Most of the women in her friend group complained about sex with their significant others.

Some of her friends were relieved when they got their periods, because it meant that they had a whole week “off” from having to smile and respond to their significant other’s sexual advances.

And she also knew that…!

Carys froze, the tears subsiding for a long moment as that last sentence registered. Her friends “enjoyed” a weeklong reprieve from sex with their significant others while they were on their periods!

That hadn’t happened over the past few months! Carys hadn’t abstained from sex because of her cycle in…ever! Not with Rafi, at least. She went cold. She hadn’t had a period in…well over a month!

Her hand moved unconsciously to her stomach. Could she be…? Was it possible that she might…?

“No!” she whispered, the tears streaming down her cheeks again as she thought about having a baby all by herself.

In the past, she and Andi had laughed about how they could be “aunts” to each other’s children.

They’d always assumed that they would remain close no matter what happened in their lives. They had been closer than some sisters!

But no more! Carys couldn’t be friends while Andi was with Rafi. It would be impossible. The agony of watching the man she loved with her friend would be too intense. So no, Carys couldn’t remain friends with Andi.

Especially if she was pregnant!

How cruel could the universe be if she truly was pregnant? That would be…beyond horrible. And wonderful, she thought as she contemplated the possibility of having Rafi’s baby. They hadn’t talked about kids. Hell, whenever Rafi brought up the future, Carys changed the subject.

Apparently, for good reason, she thought as she rolled over, pulling a pillow to her chest. Pregnant and alone. Carys blinked back the tears, her eyes burning. It was time to stop crying, she admonished. Then wiped more tears away.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes, trying to stop the pain. But the tears kept falling. Carys had no idea what time it was, but she was tired. Bone-deep exhausted. She might have slept most of the day and night, but every part of her ached.

Especially her heart.