Breaking Hearts Read Free Page B

staring at each other on the sidewalk. “It’s their anniversary, and she’s going to meet Keaton at the bar tonight.”
    “How lovely for them.”
    He met my sarcasm with his usual shrug. “I need to talk to you. Can we take a walk?”
    Something about his body language was off. He hadn’t touched me, kissed me, or so much as looked in my eyes. Instead of turning to walk beside him, I took a step closer, then blew out a quick puff of air when he stepped away.
    “Simon?”
    Finally, it dawned on me…the downcast gaze, the nervous stutter step, Joss wishing him good luck. He was going to ask. After all this time, all these years of waiting, he’d finally decided to make an honest woman of me, and I was ready.
    “Let’s go for a walk, Dani.” Without waiting to see if I’d follow or fall in step beside him, he started across the street to the park. Bypassing the picnic tables and chess sets, he veered over to the playground equipment and sat on a swing. On any other day, he would crook his finger and we would engage in a public display of affection that could be considered inappropriate by most non-porn watching individuals. This day, he stared off at something far away only he could see. Probably getting the words organized in his mind to make it the proposal I’d always dreamed of.
    I clasped my hands in front of me. Waiting. Heart beating a few thousand thumps a minute. I swiped my palms down my jeans. No way was I having sweaty fingers when he went to slip that ring on.
    “Take your time, baby. I’m not going anywhere.” For as long as I lived, I’d be right there by his side, until death did we part. “This is the Friday.” I would have clapped as an exclamation point to my sentence, but I didn’t want to interrupt his thought process. This moment was one I would cherish. It needed to be perfect. I couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my face when I plopped down into the seat beside him.
    “Friday?” He shook his head and continued staring at his shoes.
    “Our Friday. The Friday I will remember for as long as I live, so you better make it good.” After a few minutes of staring at everything but me, he met my eyes, and I wished he hadn’t. There wasn’t happiness in his whiskey-colored gaze. It was something far different and it scared me.
    “Simon, what’s wrong?” My heart stopped. This wasn’t a proposal. No. It had to be. We’d been together for more than eight years. It had to be a proposal. I wouldn’t survive anything else. “What did I do?” I couldn’t fix what I didn’t know I’d broken. I might have blamed him, but historically, the mistakes in our relationship belonged to me, so I went with the odds.
    “It’s not you, Dani.” He ran his hand through his long, golden hair. “I didn’t want this to happen.”
    I stood, hoping my weakened muscles would hold me. “What happened?” Okay, maybe it was nothing. Not the images I imagined, anyway.
    His tongue ran over his bottom lip, and my normal flutter of attraction skittered through me. “I never wanted…I mean… I don’t want to hurt you.”
    My throat closed and the air in my lungs evaporated. No conversation that started that way ever meant anything good and I knew it. This couldn’t be happening. “Then don’t.” Had manipulating him into missing me backfired? My stomach churned at the thought. What had I done? More importantly, what had he done?
    His gulp echoed on the eerie quiet of the park. It was as though everyone in town had shut themselves in to avoid the devastation our break-up would leave behind. In the romantic notions of my mind, it made sense the town would suffer through my broken heart right along with me. The truth, however, was quite different. No one would care but me. No one would even know unless Simon or I wanted them to, or he told his sister. Then it would be picking a side. Who would dare go against the golden Simon? Devastation was not too strong a word. It didn’t even come