Lucky 33 (Love in the District #2)

23. Follow-Through

CHAPTER 23

FOLLOW-THROUGH

A my wasn’t sure if she had gone to Natasha hoping the psychic would agree with everyone else or if she had gone looking for confirmation that she needed to continue down her path of relationship ruin.

Maybe I need therapy far more than a psychic.

The same feelings extended to what she wanted to happen with Drew. Do I want him to deny everything and have us go back to how things were? Maybe? But will there be other questions in the future? I feel like I’m determined to cause trouble regardless, so I might as well get it over with.

Despite everyone but Natasha begging her to drop this and let it come up naturally, Amy was determined. Let’s go get this over with.

Amy walked to Drew’s apartment. And then past it. And then back again. And then to the bench in the park next door. Mystic Natasha had said that this conflict was destined to happen, so she didn’t know why she kept fighting it. Amy was the one who had instigated this whole thing. Drew hadn’t had a part in it. He deserved his privacy, and she had made this mess by invading it.

She wished that she hadn’t gone digging. But now that she had, this needed to play out. Is this the mistake the psychic mentioned months ago when we visited her shop? Probably. Natasha had said that Amy would make a mistake that involved getting in her head and shutting the door to her soul.

Amy was definitely in her own head. She argued back and forth with herself mentally over whether she should change the course of their relationship forever. There was a sliver of objectivity remaining amongst the thoughts that had pushed her into mental overdrive, and that sliver was telling her that Drew didn’t have to divulge all of his secrets from his past. He hasn’t expected me to, so why am I doing this?

Amy was full of questions and confused by it all. She was working up the nerve to get her answers. The psht of a bus’ exhaust made her jump. She laughed aloud, seeing it was the 33 bus. “Of course it is,” she muttered. “Let’s do this.”

Drew opened the door, looking so happy and surprised that she was there that Amy almost aborted her plan. His face dropped at her expression.

“Come on in. What’s wrong? You look like you’re going to be sick.”

Good eye because I’m probably going to barf on your carpet.

They sat on his couch, and she turned to Drew, her eyes filling with tears. She shook all over as he pulled her into his chest, rubbing her back as she cried and cried.

“I don’t understand what’s wrong but take your time. Tell me about it when you’re ready,” he said.

I’m never going to be ready.

Amy sniffled and pulled back from him. With a deep breath, she began, “I need to ask you a question.” He nodded and she continued, “Did you go to jail?”

Drew was visibly taken aback. “What?”

“Did you go to jail at some point? Like, ever?”

“Where is this coming from, Amy?”

“Please just answer me.”

Drew’s face crumpled and his eyes filled with shame. “Yes. Very briefly. A long time ago. ”

Oh no. It is true. Amy had been holding out hope for him to respond that she had to be playing a joke on him, and of course, he’d never had a brush with the law.

“Why are you asking me this?”

“I needed to know if you had lied to me.”

“What?” Drew looked thoroughly confused. “When would I have lied to you about this or anything? What are you talking about?”

“You lied to me by not mentioning you had been to jail.”

Her words seemed to set him off. His eyes narrowed as he assessed her. “It never came up. Also, I’m not sure why a bullshit night in jail affects our relationship. Or, why it’s something you might have dug up and thought was your business.”

“Don’t you dare get defensive about this and blame me. You’re the one with a record. You’re not the victim.”

“Neither are you, Amy. And it was a sealed record for a good reason, I might add. So, tell me, why have you invaded my privacy and used the worst few months of my life as a reason to start a fight?”

Is that what I’ve done? Whatever, I’m not the one in the wrong. My record is clean.

“This is a big thing to leave out if you’re sharing your life with someone you supposedly love,” she spat. Uh oh, too far.

“Supposedly love? Really? You’ve made quite a few leaps in this bundle of accusations.”

“I don’t know what to believe about you. What else might you be leaving out, Drew? Are you dealing drugs?”

“Drugs? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I saw you hand that little baggie to Pedro at the 4 th of July party. You both were sneaky and looked suspicious.”

Drew’s expression changed from outrage to pure confusion. “Pedro? You mean my buddy who asked me to pick up his grandmother’s engagement ring that he got cleaned from the jeweler when I got your necklace? He was planning to propose later that night. You’d look nervous and act strangely if you were about to change your life, too.” Oh no.

“I didn’t realize that,” Amy said quietly, digging her nails into her palms. This is going horribly. Why didn’t I leave well enough alone?

“No, you didn’t. Did you consider asking me ?” Drew threw back at her. He scraped his fingers through his hair and turned his back to her.

“I was scared. I thought you had big secrets, and now I’ve found out you do. Not that one with Pedro, but you did go to jail.”

“Yes, we’ve established that. What about you? Why should I assume that you’ve laid everything out on the table for me at this point in our relationship? Why would I believe you’ve told me about every mistake and bad decision you’ve ever made in 33 years? That would be a ludicrous thing to expect of someone.”

“I don’t have any skeletons in my closet,” Amy responded curtly.

“Is that so? How long have you been keeping your background research on me a secret?” Oh. I don’t know how to respond to that. Amy averted her eyes but could feel Drew’s eyes drilling into her.

“We’ve known for a few weeks.” Maybe he won’t ask follow-up questions?

Drew blanched. “Who is we?”

Amy’s breath caught in her throat. Oops. What should I say? What should I do?

“Honesty would be good, considering everything you’re accusing me of,” Drew said nonchalantly.

“I had some input from friends and family.”

“You mean you’ve been spreading my business around town without knowing anything about it?”

“Not around town. I’ve been asking Brit, Katie, Amy, Belinda, Laura, and Jake what to do.” That sounds bad. Wait, I’m not on trial. He’s the one who lied. “Drew, none of that matters. I can’t get past you keeping something significant from me.”

“I can’t begin to tell you how insane you sound.”

That was it. Calling her insane flipped a switch in Amy’s brain. She no longer felt guilty about confronting Drew. She stood abruptly and walked to the front door. She opened it, paused, and turned around. “Then go tell everyone about your crazy ex-girlfriend. I’m done.” Amy slammed the door behind her, leaving the man who had magically come into her life and made it better on his couch gaping at her.