Page 32 of Love or Leave (Mapleton #4)

twenty-seven

C ara reefed open the car door before Max brought the car to a full stop in front of Monroe Manor. Shockingly, he'd respected her wishes to drive in silence, but she knew she wouldn't be able to put him off forever.

But she wasn't ready to talk about it yet. All she wanted was to be alone in her room, under her covers, where she could release all the pent-up sadness and tension and just cry. She wondered how long it would take to get over Antonio. Would twenty-four hours do it?

Unlikely.

She might as well admit defeat now and jump straight to the thirty-six-hour protocol.

She exited the car, slammed the door behind her, and made a beeline for the front door through the freezing rain. If she could at least rid herself of the image of Antonio in that hallway with his head hung low, regret etched in his features, she might have a chance at getting over it.

She just wished things had gone differently. She wished he were more trustworthy.

She wished he didn't have a wife.

Fucking Fran.

She was like a giant, puss-filled zit on Antonio's face that refused to break open, drain, and go away. It was stupid to think he'd somehow got over her in the few weeks they'd known each other, but Cara had wanted him so badly she let herself get carried away in the fantasy.

Did he not really mean what he'd said about being her boyfriend? Did she only believe it because she wanted it to be true so desperately?

But even if he had meant it, and wanted to be her boyfriend, it didn't matter.

He still had way too many issues with Fran that he hadn't resolved.

Was it just neglect, as he claimed, that he hadn't signed the divorce papers?

Or was he strategically leaving the door open to so he could one day walk through it again?

The unsigned papers were a deal breaker for her. They'd been officially together, boyfriend and girlfriend, for three days. She’d broken up with Jalen. But he hadn't thought it prudent to finalize his divorce?

She hung her head as she toed off her shoes and took off toward the enormous staircase.

"Wait!"

Max's voice broke through her runaway thoughts, and she stopped and turned to him from the second step.

"I can't talk about this right now."

Cara had woken up that morning believing she'd finally be putting all the unease in her heart to rest. Instead, it had detonated like an atomic bomb inside her body.

"Cara? Are you okay?"

She turned to find Willow staring at her with big saucer eyes. Chelsea and Natalie were standing behind her in the hall. She hadn't even heard them come in, but then she remembered they were all getting together that morning to discuss bridesmaid dresses.

She shook her head as her eyes filled with tears. She blinked and blinked, swallowed too, but the weight of the tears became too much and one broke free, gliding down her cheek and hitting the carpeted stair below her feet.

"I'm going to fucking kill him," Max muttered.

Willow snapped toward him. "Who?"

Before he could answer, Ethan and Adam came down the hall and stopped short. Ethan looked at her, then at Adam, then sighed.

"You know?" he asked Max.

Max's head swerved, lightening fast toward Ethan. "Did you know about this?"

"Know about what?" Willow screamed.

Cara swiped at the tears in her eyes as she came back down the stairs. "Antonio and I were sort of seeing each other," she said.

Everyone took a few moments to react. But their reactions set her teeth on edge.

Willow's shoulders relaxed, Natalie smiled, and Chelsea clapped.

"We knew it," Chelsea said, glancing toward Natalie and Willow. "We were just talking about this the other night. You two are literally perfect for each other."

Max snapped his neck toward them. "Have you lost your minds? He's older than me ."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "That doesn't matter."

Max seethed. "He's still married."

"Only technically," Willow said.

Max shook his head and stumbled backward. "I can't believe this."

Cara's heart sank. They could see what she'd seen from the beginning, and it nearly killed her.

"Don't let Max spoil it," Chelsea said.

Max narrowed his eyes at Chelsea. " Me spoil it?"

Cara held up a hand. "There is no it to spoil. We just… He's never…" her voice clogged up in her throat and she had to swallow before finishing her sentence. "He's still… He never stopped with Fran."

Her three friends' faces all broke at the same time, and their shoulders all dropped in unison.

"I'm sorry, Cara," Adam said. "He's not in the right place yet. He never should have—"

"Don't say it," Cara said, holding her hand up. "I want to be alone for a while."

"Of course," Natalie said. "We'll check on you later."

Cara hung her head and turned, taking the stairs up to her room. What a horrible disaster. Why had she believed he'd got over Fran? Why had she kept that secret for so long? Maybe her friends could have talked her out of it.

She'd finally saw the light, but not until she was standing there in the cramped hallway of his apartment building, with his beautiful wife, who he was one hundred percent never divorcing, talking about how he was thinking about her the day before.

Maybe she shouldn't have broken up with Jalen.

Maybe she should find someone else.

She shook the wild thoughts from her head and turned. "Here," she said, holding up her phone.

Ethan was the first to clue in and hold his hands out.

She tossed the phone to him, then turned and climbed the rest of the stairs. The last thing she needed was to doom-scroll through the dating apps in her depressed state.

As soon as she'd closed the door, she heard voices from below all talk at once, so she flopped onto her bed and stuffed a pillow over her ears.