Andie exhaled heavily as she dropped her head back against the seat. “I’ve thought about it, Trace. It’s all I’ve been able to think about for the past month.”
Tracey said nothing, but out of the corner of her eye, Andie could see her shift so that she was facing the road again.
“It’s just that I chose wrong. And I want you to be sure you’re not doing the same thing.”
“You chose wrong?” Andie asked, her brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“Nate.”
“But Trace,” she said, trying to choose her words carefully. “That wasn’t about you making a poor choice. Nate…” She paused, not wanting to say the words. “Nate broke up with you. You didn’t have a choice about that.”
“I cheated on him, Andie.”
She felt her eyes go wide before she whipped her head toward her friend. “You cheated on Nate?” she asked, unable to keep the shock out of her voice.
Tracey nodded.
Andie opened her mouth to respond, but no words would come. Tracey had said that Nate broke up with her because he felt they were too young to be so serious, that he wanted to experience college life.
“Why didn’t you ever—”
“I was too embarrassed to tell you,” she said quietly, cutting her off.
It was quiet for a beat before Andie said, “So…he broke up with you because he found out?”
“His roommate found out. He said that either I had to tell Nate, or he would.”
Andie fell silent, trying to make sense of everything she had just been told. Only one thought kept coming to the forefront of her mind, loud and clear; why in the hell would she have ever cheated on Nate?
“I was stupid,” Tracey said, as if she had read Andie’s mind. “Things were basically perfect with him. I know that now. But at the time, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe…I don’t know…maybe the grass was greener somewhere else. He was my first real boyfriend. The thought of only being with him…it just made me feel like, I don’t know…like maybe I was settling and not even realizing it.”
Andie took a deep breath, glancing over at her friend.
“But you know how that story ends,” Tracey said with a sad smile before she shook her head. “Nothing was ever as good as him.” She was quiet before she turned toward Andie. “I ruined everything. And I’m probably going to spend the rest of my life regretting my decision.” She looked down before she added, “Sometimes when you make a mistake, you can’t go back and fix it, you can’t undo it as much as you might want to. Are you sure this isn’t going to be one of those mistakes?”
Andie exhaled slowly, saying nothing.
Because the truth was, she wasn’t sure. She had no idea what the future held for her and Chase.
They drove on in silence, both of them clearly lost in their thoughts. Andie tried to imagine herself in Tracey’s situation; could she see herself telling this story, years from now, and referring to it as the biggest mistake of her life? Could she see herself lamenting the fact that no one who followed Colin could ever measure up?
And just as she stopped the car on the street in front of Tracey’s sister’s house, it hit her. No matter what the future held for her, there was no way she could be truly happy with Colin now. She realized she wanted more than he could give, and staying with him just because she was afraid of the unknown would be just as unfair to him as it would be to her.
Tracey turned to her. “Before you do anything, just…be sure that you’re sure,” she said as she unbuckled her seat belt. “Thanks for the ride. I love you,” she added, leaning over and kissing Andie’s cheek.
“Trace?” Andie said just as her friend was about to exit the car, and she stopped, looking over her shoulder.
“I don’t want what my parents have. I want the couple in the park.”
Tracey pulled her brow together. “You want the what?”
Andie smiled. “I gotta go,” she said as she put the car in drive, the urgency back in her voice and her movements. “I love you too. And thank you.”
Tracey looked at her friend for a moment before she smiled sadly. “Good luck,” she said before she exited the car and walked up to her sister’s front door.
Andie sped down the road, the adrenalin coursing through her as her conviction grew stronger. Colin deserved someone who loved him, who really loved him, not someone who stayed with him because it made sense.
She was doing the right thing for both of them. She knew she was.
Andie reached over and pulled her cell phone out of the cup holder in the console, holding down the speed dial for Colin. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey babe, I was just about to call you.”
“Hi,” she said, her resolve faltering a little when she heard his voice. “Um, where are you?”
“I just got home. Where are you?”
“I just dropped Tracey off at her sister’s.”
“You okay?” he asked. “You sound frazzled.”
Andie swallowed, trying to remember what made her think she could do this. “No, I’m good…I just…I wanted to come over. I need to talk to you.”
“Okay,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you about something too.”
For a second, Andie’s heart dropped. Did he know? Could he possibly know? Her stomach rolled at the thought.
It shouldn’t matter. She was going to his apartment with every intention of breaking things off. But still, if he knew about what had happened between her and Chase, he would hate her. She didn’t want him to hate her. Maybe she was incredibly naïve, but she was hoping that after all was said and done, they could remain friends.
“Okay, well, I’m about ten minutes away.”
“Alright. See you in a few,” he said before he ended the call, and Andie spent the remainder of the drive to his apartment trying to analyze his tone, his words, in an attempt to prepare herself for what might be coming her way.
She approached his front door and stopped, closing her eyes and taking a long, deep breath before blowing it out slowly through her mouth.
This is the right thing to do.
And with that thought, she opened her eyes and turned the knob.
“Colin?” she called softly as she entered. The living room was dark.
“In here,” she heard him say, and she followed his voice into the kitchen.
There were candles on the table, their soft light flickering around him as he stood at the counter, still dressed in his suit from work, opening a bottle of wine. He looked up at her and smiled. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said softly, her eyes scanning the room as her heartbeat increased slightly. “What is this?” she asked after a pause, nodding toward the candles.
His smile grew wider. “We’re celebrating,” he said, handing her the glass of wine he had just poured. He lifted his own, clinking it softly to hers.
“Okay,” Andie said with a small laugh, looking down at her glass. She swirled it gently, and she was sure she looked as uneasy as she felt. “Can I ask what we’re celebrating?”
Colin took a slow sip of wine before he placed it on the counter, and Andie gently placed hers down next to his without having taken a sip. He turned toward her then, and his smile was stunning.
“I got the Davis account.”
Andie gasped. “Oh my God!” she squealed, completely losing herself in the moment as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Colin. “I’m so proud of you!”
He tightened his arms around her, laughing softly.
She froze in his embrace, realizing how counterproductive her behavior was, but she couldn’t help her visceral reaction to the news; she was genuinely excited for him. The Davis account was huge, and Andie knew that pretty much everyone in Colin’s firm had been after it for months.