Arrow to the Heart: A Cupid Romance

Chapter 48

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I close my laptop with a sigh and drop my forehead to the desk. I managed to get through a full day's work despite the gnawing feeling in my gut—the one that's been there ever since my talk with Dec last night.

My phone hasn't so much as buzzed since then.

You asked him to give you space, Bree. He's giving you what you wanted.

I still don't know what to do with all of the information Alvarez dropped on me yesterday. I don't believe that Dec was faking everything between us as some kind of con. Maybe that makes me naive, but I just can't see it that way.

If everything was fake, then why wouldn't he just say he loved me? If he was lying about everything, why not lie about being in love?

Because Dec couldn't lie to me, even when it would have served him.

I want to be mad, but I can't be. He told his truth, it just happened to be a truth I didn't like.

He doesn't love me.

I stand up with an exhausted exhale and pack my laptop into my bag.

Does it matter? Should it?

He said he cares about me. He said I'm his sun. Maybe whatever he does feel for me is enough.

It just sucks to feel so strongly about someone and not have them feel the same way.

As I zip my bag shut, there's a knock at my office door. The door is already cracked open and I look up to see a familiar figure in the doorway.

It's Dec, but he looks very different. That white section at the front of his hair still hangs down over his forehead, but the rest is brushed and styled. He's wearing a black button-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves layered over a white tee. Everything from the shirt to his jeans looks crisp and ironed. He has one hand in his pocket and shifts slightly on his feet as his eyes rise to meet mine.

"Hey," he says with a shy smile. "Are you uh... Is this an okay time?"

"Yeah." I step back and gesture for him to come in. "I was just packing up to leave."

He props himself against my desk and I close the door behind us.

"I figured. Didn't want to interrupt you while you were working."

His eyes are soft and unsure, and all I want to do is forget about this and give him a hug, but I wait to hear what he has to say.

"What's up?" I ask.

"I wanted to talk to you... after last night." He rubs the back of his neck and looks down. "I uh. I got you something."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a strange object that looks kind of like a small potato. He holds it out in his palm, and I squint at it.

Is he giving me a potato?

"I uh..."

His brows furrow.

"Eli said I should bring you flowers, but I thought..." He looks up at me, studying my face for a moment.

"Thank you," I say. I appreciate that he tried to get me something he thought I'd like, even if I don't really understand why.

I delicately take the object from his hand and the weight and feel immediately make me realize that it's not a potato—it's a rock. A rock that really, really looks like a potato.