A Surreptitious Relationship

:A Surreptitious Relationship: Chapter Twenty-Four

The next morning I awoke to my phone buzzing loudly by my ear. Bleary eyed, I reached around until I found it, bringing it to myself. My heart fluttered when I read it was Chris. It took everything I had to toss the phone away from me. Why was he trying to contact me? Wasn’t he pissed? I didn’t want to talk to him— no, that wasn’t right. I did want to talk to him, but I couldn’t. We would just fight again.

            Pushing myself out of bed, I staggered toward the bedroom door. A yawn escaped my lips as I left Jeremy’s bedroom and headed toward the living room. In there, I found Jeremy dead asleep on the couch. The couch was way too small for him— he had to curl up into a tight ball in order to fit on it. One of his arms was splayed on the back of the couch, while his other was hanging off the edge. The only thing covering him was a light blanket, which barely reached over his long body. I watched him for a few minutes, a silly grin crossing my face. He had slept on this tiny couch just for me?

            “I love you, Jeremy,” I whispered, squatting down by his head.

            Suddenly his head whipped around, his eyes shining brightly, a playful smile spreading across his face. “More than Chris?”

            My heart sunk a little. “I…”

            The smile dropped of his face. “Oh shit. I didn’t mean to say that— I forgot you are fighting with him right now.”

            “It’s okay,” I muttered, dropping to my knees. “Thanks for not climbing into my bed last night.”

            “I was tempted,” Jeremy confessed. “Especially because I didn’t realize how small my couch really was, but I decided you had a rough enough night as it was. I didn’t want you to wake up to another man.” He laughed a little bit but quickly sobered up. “Damn. Sorry. I’m so used to teasing you—”

            I forced a laugh, shaking my head. “It’s okay, Jeremy. I’m used to it too…”

            He smiled sympathetically. “How are you feeling?”

            “Okay,” I responded honestly. “I texted Chris last night—”

            “You what?”

            I blinked at Jeremy in surprise. “I texted Chris—”

            “Why did you do that Holly?” he snapped.

            “I…”

            “Did you apologize to him?” he demanded.

            I shook my head. “No!”

            His shoulder relaxed a little bit. “Good. What did you say?”

            “I just said night,” I told him, furrowing my eyebrows together. “Why?”

            “What do you mean why? Why aren’t you angry, Holly? Chris left you last night! By yourself. He made a fool out of you.”

            I shuffled my feet, dropping my gaze. “Well I made him angry…”

            “No, Holly. You’re not taking the blame on this one. Chris ditched you last night. He left without you. He left you alone. He didn’t even wait for you in the parking lot! What kind of man would do that?”

            “Chris wouldn’t…”

            “He did, Holly,” Jeremy said flatly, his eyes smoldering into mine. “Yeah, it’s not like him. But he did it Holly. He ditched you last night.”