Hardwood - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,83

“Thank you.”

I skirt around him to go to the bathroom to get dressed. I’m not sure why, except that I feel like I need to not feel his eyes on me. He doesn’t say anything when I leave without another word.

Chapter 24

Everett

I check my phone for the hundredth time since getting home from work, hoping like hell that Watson will have messaged me. I know I fucked up, and he has every right to be annoyed with me, but it’s been almost a week since he told me he needed some space, and I’m getting worried. I’m starting to think break was a euphemism for break up.

I can’t blame him if it is. He’s a catch— sweet, sexy, confident. Why would he hang around and deal with my baggage? It’s been two months since we started seeing each other, and I still haven’t come out to Val like I promised. I acted like an ass in front of my friends, and I’ve ruined half of our dates by desperately trying to keep him compartmentalized from the rest of my life. He should break up with me. And I should fucking come out already.

I pick up my phone and pull up my text thread with Val, feeling slightly ragey at myself as I type out a flippant message.

Everett: I’m so fucking gay.

I type the words with a wry half smile on my face, moving my thumb over to delete it. To my horror, instead of clicking to clear it, I accidentally press the button to send.

“No,” I gasp, staring in horror as the little check mark and the word delivered appear beneath the text. “No,” I say again.

It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion, my heart in my throat as it changes from delivered to read, and then the little bouncing dots appear to let me know she’s typing back.

I sit straight up in bed, clutching my phone tightly in my hand. The dots appear, but no message comes through. I hold my breath as I wait for her response. They appear again, and then vanish, and I curse under my breath.

“Just say something already,” I mutter in frustration.

My phone starts to vibrate in my hand, and I’m so jittery I nearly drop it. I manage to accept the call, lifting it to my ear with shaky hands.

“Hello?” I answer timidly.

“I don’t get the joke,” Val says.

“There’s no joke.” I drag my free hand through my hair and then lean forward to rest my elbows on my knees. Taking a deep breath, I blurt the words I should’ve told her ages ago. “I’m gay.” Relief floods through me, and I nearly laugh out loud from the light feeling in my chest. Accidentally sending that text might not have been ideal, and definitely not what Val deserved, but maybe it’s what I deserve to finally have the truth out.

She’s silent on the other end for a long time while my heart thunders in my ears.

“You still there?” I ask after several excruciatingly long minutes.

“I’m processing,” she says. “Why don’t you come over tomorrow, and we can talk about this?” she suggests.

“I can do that,” I agree. “I didn’t mean to tell you in a text. I’ve been writing and deleting messages to you for about six years now.”

“Six years?” she repeats. “You knew while we were still married.”

I grimace and bite down on my bottom lip, tasting the coppery flavor of blood against my tongue. “Some part of me has always known, I think,” I confess.

“Of course.”

She sounds dazed, and I don’t blame her. This is a lot to process. “I’ll let you sleep on that, and I’ll swing by tomorrow.”

She clears her throat. “Great. Okay. Sleep well.”

The phone goes silent as she hangs up without any further pleasantries. I can’t blame her, but fuck does it feel good to get the weight off my chest. A relieved laugh rolls through my chest and out my mouth as I set my phone down.

I still have to face her tomorrow, but she finally knows. After all these years, my secret isn’t secret anymore, and it feels incredible.

*****

I stand on Val’s front porch, butterflies the size of birds raging in my stomach, sweat beading on the back of my neck, and my heart in my throat.

She’s bound to have difficult questions, and she deserves answers to all of them. I raise my hand to knock, and within seconds I hear the patter of light footsteps that undoubtedly belong to Livi. I smile