Not Just Friends (Brookfield) (14 page)

“Dude,”
he called out to Jay. “I’m ready to head out.”

Jay
was in his own corner with a woman. “I’m not, unless you are.” His comment was directed
at the woman giggling at him.

“Where’s
Stan?”

“Right
here. What’s got you so upset? Last I saw, you looked like you might get
lucky.”

“Screw
ya’ll. I asked you to help me. She was drunk.”

“Why
do you care? She wanted you.” Stan smirked.

Connor
took a deep breath. “Because I’m seeing someone and it’s serious.”

“It
isn’t like she would know,” Jay said.

“Yeah,
you would think. Except she was here. And she saw.”

“Oh
crap, dude!” Jay pushed away from the woman.

“Yeah,
now she left with her friends and all I want to do is go home myself.”

Stan
and Jay glanced at one another and Connor hoped like hell he might have friends
like Alyssa did.

“Can’t
you call a cab?” Stan asked.

There
it was, the truth he’d known all along. “Yeah, I guess so.”

He
turned away from his friends and pulled his phone from his pocket as he exited
the building. After he called for a cab, he leaned against the building to
wait. He wanted to see Alyssa. He couldn’t let her go. But at the same time, he
knew what he’d done wrong. If he’d been honest with himself about the way he
felt about her and with his so-called friends, he might not be in this mess.
Most likely he would’ve spent the evening with Alyssa instead. Rubbing her feet
after her day.

She’d
had a crazy day at work with the author. Her ideal evening tonight would have
been a movie with take-out or one of those frozen meals, her cat on her lap,
and if he were lucky, having him join her. Dancing and bars was not her scene.

Taking
a deep breath, he hoped Alyssa would forgive him. He couldn’t blame letting the
girl press her body against him on his friends. He liked the attention he was
getting. Being in a relationship was new to him. Only one girl and that was it.
It was an adjustment. He was certain, though, that he could be with Alyssa for
the rest of his life. And that having random women in his bed wasn’t what he
wanted.

Playing
video games all day on a Saturday and getting beat by Alyssa, that’s what he
wanted. Alyssa got him. She knew him and accepted him for who he was. More than
he could say for Jay and Stan, who would most likely laugh and make jokes about
the fact he liked to read. Why did he have people like that in his life?

Here
he’d spent the last few weeks with Alyssa, trying to help her through her problems
with her sister. And yet, he had yet to deal with his own problems corrupting
his life.

A
yellow taxi pulled up and Connor waved it down before anyone else standing
outside could. He climbed in. The cab driver asked him where to. He’d love to
tell him The Reading Corner, but knew not to push Alyssa too much tonight. He
gave the driver his address, laid his head back on the headrest, and closed his
eyes.

* * * *

The
Reading Corner was only open a few hours on Sundays. Business only picked up
for about an hour around two. By four, the place was dead and snow fell.
Snowfall the weather man had predicted would miss them took a sudden turn.
Three to four inches was expected overnight. While it wasn’t much, it was
enough for the town of Brookfield to head home and Alyssa’s excuse to close
early.

She
decided to do her Sunday night inventory and leave the shop open just in case.
But she didn’t expect anyone to come in.

Twenty
minutes later, she had a list of books to order. She placed the paper by the
register and pulled the keys from the drawer. As she locked the front door, she
saw someone running down the sidewalk. Alyssa opened the door to see if the
person needed help and was surprised to see her sister.

“Diane,
what are you doing out here? It’s cold.”

Her
sister came into the shop and pulled her cap from her head.

“Why
were you out in the snow?”

Diane
collapsed into a chair. “My stupid car slid on some ice on the bridge and I
skidded off the road.”

“Oh
my God. Are you okay?”

“I’m
fine. But the car is stuck.”

“I’m
glad you got here safely.” Alyssa finished locking up the door. “Let’s go up to
my place and get something warm to drink.”

“You
still live above your shop?”

Alyssa
shrugged. “It’s just me, why not?”

“I
guess you’ve got a point.”

As
they entered her apartment, Zoe came to greet them. Diane squealed and bent
down to pet the cat. Alyssa forgot about how much her sister had loved the cat
when she’d been around. It was the one thing they had in common—cats.

“Wow,
Zoe, you’re one gorgeous kitty.” She scratched the cat behind her ears.

Alyssa
busied herself making hot tea for them. Once she had it done, she joined her
sister in the living room, handing her a mug. “Have you seen Matt?”

“Yes,
but didn’t go as I had hoped.”

“How
so?”

“He’s
being stubborn.” She sighed. “He wants me to end things with Tom. He never
wanted Tom to begin with.”

“How
did Tom get involved with you two anyway?” The million-dollar question.

“I
met him and liked him. Matt wanted me to be happy, so he agreed. But in return,
Matt wasn’t happy. And I guess I pushed him back to you.”

“I
don’t want him.”

Diane
laughed. “Yes, I know. Cody told me all about the new man in your life. Connor
Phillips. Go, you.”

Alyssa
debated telling her about the recent trouble, but decided to bite her tongue. “Do
you love Matt enough to get rid of Tom?”

“Yes,
but what if this baby is Tom’s? Then what?”

“I
don’t know.” She reached out and laid a hand on her sister’s knee. “Just know
Cody and I will always be here for you.”

A
tear trickled down Diane’s cheek. “I’ve been so awful to you.”

“I
won’t disagree with that. And I’m not innocent either, but it’s time to put
that behind us and move forward.”

“Think
we can?”

“I’m
sure we’ll still have fights, but we can’t do things to the other purposely to
hurt them.”

“Something
I need to learn.” Diane chuckled.

Alyssa
pointed at her sister’s flat belly. “I think for at least nine months, your
belly will remind you of what happens when you get spiteful.”

Diane
placed her hand over her stomach. “Yeah, but this baby isn’t a mistake. This
baby is a gift to show me the ways.”

“I
can’t wait to meet the little bundle of joy. Oh, and to see you get fat.”

They
laughed. This was nice, actually getting along. Alyssa couldn’t remember the
last time they’d sat together and laughed. Maybe the baby really was a good
thing. Matt might not be leaving her life anytime soon, but she’d take this new
growing relationship with Diane. Christmas might actually be fun this year.

Alyssa’s
cell phone rang. She picked it up and saw it was Cody. “Maybe Cody’s calling
about Matt.”

“I
hope so.”

“Hey,
Cody,” Alyssa answered.

“Hey.
You sitting down?”

“Yeah.
I’m here with Diane and we’re chatting over tea.”

“That’s
a shocker.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, the roads are nasty. And I just got
a call that there was a wreck on the bridge.”

“Yeah,
Diane is okay,” she told him.

“She
was in an accident?”

“She
said she skidded off the road. It’s her car left sitting on the side of the
road.”

“Glad
she is okay. But it’s not Diane I’m calling about.” She could hear the concern
in his voice.

“Oh.”
Her heart sped up as she wondered who he was calling about.

“It’s
Connor. He’s been taken to the hospital.”

“What!
Oh my gosh. I need to get to him.” She stood, looking for her car keys.

“No,
he wouldn’t want you risking your life on the roads. The temperature has
dropped fast. Roads are sheets of ice. The salt trucks should be going out
soon.”

“Yeah,
but I have to get to him. Did they say how bad?”

“No,
but I’ll find out. You stay there. Do you hear me?” he warned.

She
heard him all right. She felt paralyzed that she couldn’t go to Connor. Could
she really just sit here and wait for him to call and tell her how Connor was? “I
hear you.”

“I’ll
call you as soon as I know more.”

Alyssa
pressed the
end
button and looked at Diane. “Connor was in an accident.”

“Is
he okay?”

“I
don’t know. But I feel helpless sitting here.”

“Let’s
go.”

Alyssa
raised an eyebrow. “Cody said—”

“Cody
has never been in love. Let’s go.” Diane stood and held her hand out to Alyssa.

Chapter Seventeen

Damn,
that hurt. Connor never knew stretching could be so painful. He looked around
the hospital room. This was the last place he wanted to be. Right about now, he
should’ve been at Alyssa’s, but when he crossed the bridge into the main part
of town, the bridge had been slicker than expected. And he drove a little too
fast for conditions.

Now
he was in this hospital bed. He remembered a little. He’d hit his head on the
steering wheel and had been in-and-out of consciousness. That, he remembered.
His left arm was bandaged and he imagined when the doctor returned, Connor
would be informed it was broken or fractured.

The
hospital room door opened and Connor expected to see a nurse or doctor, but
instead, saw Cody. He hoped he wasn’t getting a ticket. Or worse, that Alyssa
had told him about the night before.

“How
are you feeling?” Cody asked.

“I’ve
had better days.”

“I
imagine so. Why were you speeding in these conditions?”

“I
needed to see Alyssa.”

“Why?”

Connor
didn’t want to tell him he’d been a jackass and was going to grovel to the
woman he loved. But he supposed there wasn’t really any way around it. “We had
a bit of a misunderstanding and I was going to her to apologize.”

“I
see. Slow and steady wins the race.”

Connor
laughed. “Yeah, I know that now. I didn’t realize the weather was as bad as it
was.”

“I
need to report back to my sister before she has a panic attack. Doctor been by
yet?”

“I’m
sure I’m just bruised up. No I.Vs or anything, so it can’t be too serious.”

Cody
pulled his phone from his pocket and Connor watched as he placed it to his ear.

Ring
ring, Ring ring.

Connor’s
door opened again and Alyssa walked in, a woman he’d never seen behind her.

Cody
spun around. “What are you doing here? I told you not come down here.”

“Shut
up, bro, you’ve never been in love,” the woman he assumed must be Diane
snapped.

Cody
shook his head. “Maybe it was better when you two weren’t getting along.”

Alyssa
hugged her brother. “I’m fine.” She let go of Cody and walked over to Connor.
“You, however, aren’t. What happened?”

“I’m
so sorry, Alyssa,” he began.

“We’ll
talk about that later. For now, let’s find a doctor and see what’s going on.”
Alyssa turned to Cody. “Head down to the nurses’ station. Would you mind?”

“It
doesn’t really matter what I want now, does it?”

“Nope,
get used to it.” Diane patted him on the back. “I’ll go with him. But I hope to
get to know you better soon, Connor.”

“Yeah,
me too.”

Cody
and Diane left in search of a doctor, leaving him alone with the woman he
loved. He never wanted to be away from her again. And having her come to him,
even when she was mad, was doing something to his insides he couldn’t quite
explain.

Connor
grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry. I was a jackass. I didn’t cheat
on you, but I wasn’t true to myself. And that might not make a whole lot of
sense right now. But I want to make this up to you. Will you let me?”

Alyssa
smiled at him. “You don’t listen, do you?”

“What
do you mean?”

“We’ll
talk about this when I get you home.”

Was
she not forgiving him? He was about to protest, but the damn door opened again.
Cody and Diane returned, this time with a man in a white coat whom Connor
assumed was a doctor.

Alyssa
stepped away, leaving him feeling alone and cold. But she wasn’t far.

“Mr.
Phillips, I see you’re up now. You knocked your head pretty good. You’ve got a
concussion as well as a broken arm.” He shined a flashlight in Connor’s eyes
and stepped back. “We’ll have to keep you overnight.”