Page 49 of Maybe, Probably (Love Me, Maybe #1)

Chapter Thirty Two

Harper

I wake to knocking at the door. “Come in.” I sit up slowly as I scrub my eyes.

I expect Penelope to come walking through the door, as she’s the only person I expect to knock on the door. I’m shocked when I see Dalton standing there in the doorway of my room. He shifts back and forth at the door.

“Uh, hey.” The confusion in my voice is obvious, but I wave him to come in. He hesitates for a minute before stepping forward. He leaves the door open, which I’m grateful for.

He grabs the chair that’s by the window and pushes it closer to the bed. He sits down, and his body is stiff. I can see the tension vibrating through his body. He’s nervous, and I don’t entirely know why.

“I’m going to be honest. I didn’t expect you to come visit.” I readjust myself so I’m leaning up against the headboard. I see a water bottle on my nightstand and grab it. Uncapping it, I down almost half before I cap it again and set it in my lap.

Dalton has been sitting with his elbows on his knees, looking down at the ground. I’m just about to talk again, when he finally speaks.

“I owe you an apology.”

A snort leaves me before I’m able to catch it.

Dalton’s head zips up, his eyes finally colliding with mine.

As I look him over, I can see how exhausted he truly is.

There are bags under his eyes, and his hair unkempt, like he hasn’t tried to properly take care of himself.

It is an odd thing to see, because Dalton has always taken care of himself.

I used to joke sometimes that he spent more time getting ready than myself when we would go out.

“I would say that you’re quite late for that, Dalton. But color me curious, what are you apologizing for?”

A sardonic laugh leaves him as he leans back, running a hand over his face. “I have thought about what to say to you for the last two months. Now that I’m here, I don’t even know where to start.”

I sit there in silence and wait. I’m not going to direct this conversation. If he is truly sorry, and wants to apologize and explain himself, he’s going to have to start talking.

“Over those two months, I've realized that my biggest regret is cheating on you.”

My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline, but I stay silent.

“I don’t even know what happened. I know we were drifting apart, and I’m not going to play it off like I wasn’t the problem, because I was part of it, for sure.

I was so focused on working as a junior associate, trying to prove myself.

I worked myself to the bone. I needed to earn my place and show my worth.

Once I became a senior associate, I started taking on more complex cases.

I had great mentors I worked under, so I was feeling so confident about it all.

” He pauses for a minute, taking off his glasses.

He begins to clean them off with his shirt.

“Chloe started shortly after I became a senior. She really was clueless at the beginning. She got her job through Theo, who's a partner at another law firm, but good friends with one of the partners at our place. Anyway, I felt sorry for her, she kind of got thrown in the trenches. I helped her out a bit, a few things here and there. I didn’t answer the phone for her or anything like that, but I helped her with the scheduling software on the computer. I sometimes did some filing for her if I was already heading that way. Small things until she started to get a better handle of things.”

“Well, that’s convenient now, isn’t it.” I tried. I really tried to stay quiet, but I never said I was perfect .

He stays quiet for a minute. “Okay, that’s fair. I truly was just trying to help her, though.”

Another stretch of silence, and when Dalton realizes I’m not going to say anything else, he continues, “One day back at the end of June, my mom stopped by to go out for lunch. You know how she did that every couple months.” I make a noise of acknowledgement, because she did, and I think she used it as an opportunity to brainwash him.

I don’t say it out loud, because it’s pointless now.

“She arrived at the office, and I was at the front helping Chloe with the scheduling program again. She introduced herself and then invited Chloe to join us for lunch. The lunch was awkward, and weird, to be honest. But my mom just loved Chloe, they talked the whole lunch, and I barely got a word in. They exchanged numbers and I didn’t think much of it.

My mom called me later that day, and she just kept boasting about Chloe.

She said she was such a lovely girl. I dismissed her and explained that she was just the receptionist that I was helping out while she was getting her role figured out. She dropped it, or so I thought.”

He stands up and begins pacing a bit. I'm not sure where he’s going with this story, because it just feels like the narrative of how he ended up cheating on me.

“A month goes by, and Chloe seemed to be finding whatever excuse she could to get my help. When she realized that asking for help wasn’t working, she started making sure my days were always set up for me.

It’s not something I expected, I was fine with getting my stuff organized for the day, but it was – nice.

Then I don’t know what happened, but my mom convinced me that it would be fine to go out to dinner with her one time.

Told me to say it’s with colleagues, and see what happens.

It was only supposed to be one time, I swear, Harper. Just dinner.”

“Well, we all know where that led us.” My arms are crossed over my chest. “I really don’t understand why this is important. I don’t need the backstory to how you started fucking Chloe behind my back and getting her pregnant. ”

“That’s the thing, though.” He returns to the chair and sits down. “I used a condom, she said she was on birth control. She shouldn’t have gotten pregnant!”

“You know another way to avoid getting someone pregnant, Dalton? You don’t fucking sleep with them, especially when they aren’t your partner!” I’m just annoyed at this point. “Is there a point to this?”

Dalton runs his hands through his hair. “There is. I’m getting to it now.

I just– I was under so much pressure at work.

I’m on the fast track to making partner if I play my cards right.

I was never ashamed of you, the other partners actually loved you.

I let my mom get in my head. I let her make me believe that having Chloe by my side would make everything happen.

I was going to end it, but then she told me she was pregnant.

I was still going to leave her, and just– figure that out when the news broke out. ”

His eyes are shining with unshed tears. “Then I heard the heartbeat.” He sniffs loudly, running the back of his hand under his nose.

“And you knew you had to stay. Not for Chloe, but the baby.” It makes sense now.

Out of all the years I knew Dalton, I knew being a parent was something he was excited about.

To find out you made a life, I knew in this moment, that he wouldn’t have walked away, even if it meant hurting me in the process.

“Yes. I’m having a little girl you know.” A soft smile forms on his face. “I have no idea what I’m going to do, but I’m excited for that little girl.”

A single tear runs down his face, and he wipes it away quickly before clearing his throat. “Anyways, I owe you an apology for how I treated you. I hurt you. I threw away one of my best relationships, and lost my best friend in the process. I miss my friend.”

There’s a heavy silence, the weight of everything he said lingers between us.

Sitting there, I soak it all in. I’ve known him since I was a teenager, and I can see how much this is hanging on him.

Deep down, I know this was all Judith’s work.

She never liked me, and maybe it was because I didn’t fit what the perfect woman for Dalton was in her eyes.

I’ll never know, but I know one thing for sure. We were never meant to last .

“I miss my friend too.” A sad smile pulls at my mouth. “I don’t think I can fully forgive you.” I watch the way Dalton’s face drops.

“Oh, yeah, that’s fair.” He tries to stand, and I stop him.

“Wait.” I sit up straighter, criss crossing my legs in front of me.

“You didn’t let me finish, Dalton. I don’t think I can fully forgive you, at least not right now.

It doesn’t mean it’s going to stay like that.

You were the biggest part of my life, aside from Evie.

You did hurt me, and I’m still healing from that.

We’re going to continue to be in each other's lives if we’re going to be staying with our respective partners.

” My phone dings at that moment. I look and see it’s a text from Xavier.

Xavier: Let me know when you’re up, and I’ll make you tea.

Harper : I’ve been up for a little bit. Dalton is here– apologizing.

Xavier: Are you okay? Do I need to come up there and kick him out?

A smile pulls at my lips as I read the protectiveness in his response.

If you would have asked me at the beginning of this whole thing when he asked me to be his fake girlfriend, I could have given you a million and one scenarios with how it would play out.

Not one of those scenarios would end with where I’m at right now.

Harper: I’m good, come up once you’re done making tea.

Xavier: You got it, babydoll.

I look up, my eyes meeting Dalton’s. “I think that one day– we can become friends again.”

He nods his head. “I want to earn your friendship back, even if Evie is plotting my death.”

“I don’t think you’re wrong.”

I see the moment the tension in his body relaxes, and he stands, a soft smile forming on his lips. “Thank you, Harper. I don’t deserve anything nice from you after what I did, and I didn’t stand up for you when I should have– but thank you for doing it anyway.” He turns, heading to the open door.

I don’t know what comes over me. “Harps.” I correct him.

He looks over his shoulder, eyes widened at the importance of what I just said. “Harps.”

I’m not alone for more than a minute before Xavier comes sauntering into the bedroom with two mugs in his hands.

The steam billows over the rim of the cup, and when he’s within reaching distance, he hands me the mug.

Grasping it with both hands, I bring it to my lips and take a sip.

The warmth of the liquid spreads across my chest and through my body.

I look up and smile my thanks to Xavier.

He leans down and presses his lips to mine.

The sound of thunderous paw prints starts from down the hall, causing my head to whip in the direction of the door as Winnie comes barreling into the room.

He stops a couple feet before us, jumping on his back legs.

When his two front paws thunk on the floor, a deep woof comes from deep in the furry creature's chest. He stands stern, with a rather grumpy look on his face.

“What’s up, buddy?”

When those brown eyes connect with mine, his back end moves back and forth with happiness.

Xavier laughs, pulling my attention back to him. His ocean eyes look at me with such a deep force of affection that it takes my breath away. He reaches for my hand, pulling it away from my mug to kiss my inner wrist.

“I love you.” The words spill from my lips like a sigh. I wait for the panic to set in at the confession, but nothing comes.

His glossy eyes connect with mine, “I–” He inhales deeply, leaning forward and pressing his forehead to my own. “I love you too.”

“Come on,” Xavier holds his hand out to me. “Let’s take this boy for a bit of a walk, and we can talk about the New Years Eve party.”

I couldn’t hold back the huge smile even if I tried. “Really? ”

“Really.” With my hand intertwined in his, we head toward the door. “I may not have known it back then, but you’ve had me from the moment you fell into my lap.”