Chapter 29

Thanks for tuning in as I post chapters of my new novel When Ivy Met Adam: A second chance, forced proximity, sexy, queer love-triangle romance. Your feedback is everything. Please post comments here or email me. I love hearing what you think.

Prologue (old) Prologue (new) Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapters 8&9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 (old) Chapter 15 (new) Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapters 22&23 Chapter 26* Chapter 27 Chapter 28

*No chapters are missing. They just got renumbered! 🤓

Chapter 29 Ivy

We’re out in front of my office. I glare at him (let’s not pretend I have any expression on my face other than utter incredulity). I try to make sense of what he’s saying and what has happened between us. My racing mind is full of questions I need answers to. Why is he in Florida, really? Where has he been for the last year? How does he remember orange roses are my favorite? Where did he get that stunning suit?

“Did you really think I would reject you?” He begins to answer, but I don’t let him. “Did you break up with me to ‘free’ me from you?” It occurs to me I’m talking about the past and he’s talking about the present, but he can catch up. 

I need to know the truth. Did he think he was doing me a favor by ending things between us? Or did he truly believe that I could not accept him for who he truly is?

“Most importantly, why didn’t you contact me?” I feel the fiery frustration rising in my chest. “Did you think that I was living my own life, and that you didn’t have any right to intrude anymore? Or were you afraid that I would reject the new you?” I’m projecting, I get it. But these are the answers I’ve cooked up in my head. I don’t know what he’s thinking, so this is the narrative I’ve invented. 

“Adam, I need you to understand that if you had reached out to me, I would have been there for you. But the reason this is so difficult now,” I shove a finger in his rock-hard chest to emphasize now, “is because it has been so damn long.” 

This close to him, I can see the pain and guilt etched on his face. Maybe he did think he was doing what was best for me. Maybe he was afraid to confront his own feelings and didn’t know how to reach out to me. I understand his journey was long and about him and really had nothing to do with me. Sigh. 

I take a deep breath and can smell the roses. I let their fragrance push away some of the hurt and anger that’s been building inside of me. “So many questions,” I say softly. “But I need to know. Why didn’t you trust me enough to talk to me about everything? And where do we go from here?”