Hold Me Tight(10)

“I’m sorry, Ivy. Lauren asked that I accompany you to all of your appointments. I don’t expect to go in with you or anything.” He blushes, wringing his hands.

“Well, you can forget it, Tim,” I sit up in my chair, inching forward so that my feet touch the floor. “If Eric even sees you in the waiting room, he’ll go ballistic.”

“Still has that temper of his, does he?” Tim inquires, smirking at me.

“You have no right to criticize him after all he’s been through, especially after all you’ve done to him,” I assert hotly.

“Ah, yes. Poor Saint Eric,” he drolls, rubbing his forehead, shading his eyes from me.

“Stop it,” I demand.

“What? He’s never gone off on you?” He lowers his hand to read my expression. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“You don’t know a thing about it,” I protest, not liking how he’s able to read me with a glance.

“I can pretty much sum up that it was some misunderstanding that he blew way out of proportion. Am I right?” he asks, raising his eyebrows. He smirks again when I don’t answer. “Yeah. All my life, I considered Eric to be my best friend—until he threw our friendship away over some stupid argument about Cassidy.”

“Maybe it wasn’t stupid to him,” I retort while my mind wildly ponders the role that Tim held in Eric’s life—a role Eric has never even told me about.

“Well, it kind of sucks when your best friend takes his girlfriend’s word over yours,” Tim elaborates, cracking his knuckles like he’s readying himself for a brawl.

“Maybe he had a good reason to doubt you. You don’t exactly strike me as the trustworthy type.” I cross my ankles and smile coyly at him.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong, Ivy. Eric should’ve listened to me. All three of us wouldn’t be in this mess if he had.” He runs the towel through his hands, trying to dispel his nervous energy. “Eric should thank his lucky stars that Lauren brought you to me and not someone else.”

“Oh, is that right? The guy you stabbed in the back by sleeping with Cassidy? Yeah, he should feel real secure knowing that I’m here with you.” I toss my hair over my shoulder in disgust. “I can’t listen to anymore of this nonsense. I’m going to bed.”

“Wait,” he implores, reaching out to lightly touch my arm as I stride by him.

“What?” I ask, trying to ignore the jolt I felt when his fingers brushed my skin.

“This thing with Cassidy… It’s not what you think,” he mutters, raking a hand through his hair.

“Are you telling me you didn’t sleep with her?” I place my hands on my hips, daring him to lie to me.

He puffs out his cheeks before exhaling deeply. “I’m saying I don’t want to get into this right now.”

“You never want to get into it. You make these claims, and then you clam up and won’t explain what you mean. And I’m just supposed to trust what you’re saying? I don’t think so.” I turn on my heel and stomp back up the steps, making sure to take my purse with me this time.

“I’d really like it if you’d join me for breakfast in the morning,” he calls out after me.

“Are you going to give me some answers?” I press, pausing halfway up.

He sighs before responding. “Probably not.”

“Then don’t count on it,” I grumble as I continue on, not even bothering to turn around.

He’s going to have to spill what he knows eventually. He can’t keep stringing me along like this. I get that there’s a lot of history between Eric and Tim, history I knew nothing about until now. I want to hear Tim’s side of it, but I’m also a little afraid to. I don’t think it’ll change my opinion of Eric, but I don’t like not knowing all the details.

I have to find out what really went on between them and what role Cassidy played in breaking up their friendship. Maybe then I could start to repair it.

Tim seems like an okay guy. It’s possible they just fell in love with the same girl and she had a hard time choosing between them, giving them both reason to hope when she could only give herself to one. Did Cassidy sleep with Tim, or is it just another one of Lauren’s lies?

I’m going to have to put my reporter instincts to work and do some digging, because I’m determined to find out who’s telling the truth and who stands to gain by covering it up.

What I’ve come to learn about Lauren Price is that she usually twists the facts to fit her version of reality, especially where Eric’s concerned. So what exactly is she hiding by spinning this web of deceit? It’s obviously something big, and I have a hunch that Tim knows what it is.