Page 53 of Under the Table

Especially with Hope’s confession.

Angelica let herself into her room and dropped the iPad onto her freshly made bed. She pulled off her shoes and dropped them onto the floor before pulling up her foot and massaging her arch.

Love?

Had that really been what Hope had said? That she was falling in love with Angelica? She couldn’t deny that there was a connection between them that went beyond almost any other romantic interest Angelica had in the past.

Butlove?

Really?

Looking around her room, Angelica sighed and closed her eyes. This would take time, not just for Hope to figure out her relationship with Rex but for Angelica to figure out exactly what she was feeling. Because was it love? She couldn’t say one way or the other if it was. It was too quick, and far too early. She and Hope had done their best to avoid each other in the last year, not get to know each other better.

For now it’d be best to focus on work, and making sure that last night didn’t affect filming.

Because if it did, she knew Josef would hear about it, and it’d be her head on the chopping block.

Chapter

Eighteen

The room was dead quiet.

Rex sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, and Hope had no idea what to even say to him. She’d begged Molly to take Eva for the night when Rex had texted and told her he was coming back and they needed to talk. But ever since he’d arrived, he hadn’t said a damn word.

And it was now three in the morning.

Hope worried her lower lip and continued to stare at his back. Had she really broken him this time? Had she shattered the man that she’d fallen in love with into so many pieces that they’d never be able to put him together again?

“Rex?” Hope asked, her voice breaking on his name. She cleared her throat, tears stinging her eyes. But she was going to have to be the one to start this. He wasn’t going to do it, and they needed to talk before morning hit and they had to get to work. “Rex, I know I did this all wrong. That I’m the one at fault here.”

“Yes, you are.” Rex’s voice rang through the room, so raw and rough. He’d been crying most of the day. Hope could tell that. And she hated herself a little more because she was the cause.

“I’m so sorry.” She shook her head, tears escaping down her cheeks. But she hated that she was crying. She wasn’t the victimhere. He was. She’d made a conscious decision to have sex with Angelica, and she wasn’t ever going to be able to change that. Not that she wanted to.

Something had changed in her that night, but it wasn’t what she expected. She didn’t come to any sort of conclusion about her sexuality—she’d already done that. She hadn’t realized that she didn’t love her husband, because she definitely still loved him. That’s what made this so hard.

Hope crawled to the edge of the bed, hanging her feet over it so that she was sitting next to him. The light from the television was the only thing that allowed her to see the exhaustion in his face. She wanted to touch him, but she knew she couldn’t. He had to allow her to do that first. He had to make the step to let her back into his life.

“It wasn’t just sex,” Hope whispered. She sniffled and clenched her teeth. This part was going to be the hardest to say. “I have feelings for Ange.”

“I know,” Rex said, his voice dropping. He closed his eyes and his shoulders went lax. “I know you do.”

Silence filled the space between them, but it was a comfortable one, something about the way they were finally talking about what Hope had been avoiding since the end of last season. The words she’d avoided telling him for so long spilled from her and it was so damn hard to make them stop.

But then again, why did she have to do that?

“I tried so hard to ignore it,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I tried so hard to convince myself that it was all in my head.”

“But it’s not.” Rex nodded slightly and looked up at her, eyebrows raised in understanding. “I’ll never fault you for being someone who thinks with her heart first and her head second, Hope. You know that.”

She gave him a small, watery smile. God, the man was always supportive of her, wasn’t he? Even in one of their darkest moments, even when she was the sole source of that darkness, he still wasn’t going to let her be someone other than who she was meant to be.

He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair. “I had all day to think about this.”

“I didn’t want to keep it from you.”

Rex sent her a look, telling her to be quiet, so Hope nodded to let him speak. This was his time now, not hers. And she needed to let him have it. Open communication. It was now or never, wasn’t it?