I heard him emit a tired sigh before I felt a weight lower onto my bed. “I came to apologise. I was an idiot, and I’m prepared to grovel for forgiveness.”
Well, that was quite the statement.
I opened my eyes. Neil sat on the edge of my bed, his shoulders slumped. My phone continued to emit the sounds of a trickling stream, leaves rustling in the wind, and birds chirping in the distance.
“Oh?”
He looked like he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. He’d clearly been agonising over something, our argument most likely, and I had to resist the urge to pull him into my arms and hug him tight. I hated seeing him so sad.
“You were right about Annabelle,” he said, looking forlorn.
By contrast, relief filled me, but I kept my composure.
“What brought you to this conclusion?”
His gaze finally met mine. I’d missed those brown eyes. “She came to the gym today to share lunch with me.”
A brief, sharp stab of jealousy went through me, but I tamped it down. Clearly, their lunch date hadn’t gone well, given the fact he was here now apologising.
“I designed it as a bit of a trap if I’m being honest. I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said about her using me to get close to Callum, so I decided to test the theory. I invited her to the gym for lunch, and things were going fine. Then, Callum and Isaac came out having just finished their training and invited us to join them at the café down the street. It was clear we’d already eaten, but Annabelle practically jumped at the chance, saying she was in the mood for dessert.”
I scoffed. “I’ll bet she was.”
Neil frowned. “Again, I feel like such a fool for not going with my gut and listening to you in the first place. I was too busy being flattered by her acceptance like an idiot. We arrived at the café, and Annabelle sat right up close to Callum, peppering him with endless questions and even asking him about his relationship with Leanne. I was mortified. Even Isaac said it was obvious that Annabelle had a thing for Callum. Callum didn’t seem to notice, probably because he’s used to women being all over him. Anyway, after we ate, we parted ways. Annabelle mentioned coming to the gym for lunch again next week, and I panicked and agreed. She’s clearly using me to spend time around Callum, and now I have no idea how to cut ties with her. She has too much dirt on me.”
“Well, if you ask me, she sounds like an absolute bitch.”
“Afric, I’m still the one in the wrong—”
“You came clean to her, and now she’s using the situation to her advantage. She’s a manipulative bitch, plain and simple. She clearly sees that you’re too nice and too scared of her outing you to refuse her.”
“Maybe I should just tell Callum the truth and face whatever consequences come after.”
“You could do that. I’d advise you to take a few days to think about it first, though. Confessing is a big step.”
Neil nodded, his face drawn in thought. A long moment of quiet fell before he asked, “What can I do to make it up to you?”
“Nothing. I’ve been fuming mad, of course, but I do get why you didn’t listen to me. You wanted the fairy-tale.” Bitterness pinched at my gut. “Annabelle is beautiful and sexy, and she said she wanted to date you. I can’t fault you for saying yes.”
“That’s not why I said yes.”
A flutter of hope went through me. “It isn’t?”
Neil shook his head. “I’ll admit it felt good to think she might like me enough to forgive my lies. It stroked my fragile ego, and that’s probably why I said yes. But all those feelings I thought I had for her simply weren’t there when we met in person. I didn’t feel any kind of connection, not like …”
“Not like what?” I asked, a little too eagerly. I was still lying down, but my heart was hammering in my chest. It filled me with an unnecessarily large amount of relief and giddiness to know that Neil hadn’t fancied Annabelle when he met her in real life. He hadn’t felt a connection to her, and for whatever silly, sentimental reason, that made me ridiculously happy.
“Not like I should have felt if I truly cared about her,” he finished, and something about his tone told me that wasn’t what he’d been about to say. He