Unveiling The Sky Read Online Free PDF Page B

that.”
    Others might only hear it as an apology, but I heard the truth. I heard what she wasn’t saying: It’s the truth. I just wish I hadn’t said it .
    “I’m not going back to my father’s company, and I’m not marrying you. And that’s never going to change. I’m not trying to be cruel by stating things so bluntly; it’s quite the opposite, actually. I want you to be able to move on from this. I don’t want to leave you with any kind of false hope.”
    She nodded, but her eyes still showed determination. “Have you told your father any of this?”
    “Not yet. I went by the house, but he was… preoccupied. I left before—” I cut myself off. “Wait. How’d he know I was home? I never told him my plans.”
    “He saw you pulling away from the house.”
    I nodded absentmindedly. “Right. Well, I’m going to tell him. I just wanted to have a job lined up first.”
    Miranda gave me a sad smile. “You and I both know he’s not going to consider that any kind of plan.”
    “I know. But I have to do something that’s for me. I can’t live my life for him. I won’t.” I picked up the boxes and moved toward the door. Miranda stepped out of my way, and even though the hope in her eyes wasn’t completely gone, it was a least dulled.
    “I’ll still talk to you, right?” Her voice trembled with doubt even as her face was hopeful and pleading. I returned her sad smile and gave her a kiss on the cheek before whispering in her ear, “Goodbye, Miranda.”

    Caleb finally went home last night, thereby ending the seventy-two-hour sex marathon and affording me my first restful sleep in three nights. It was just after ten in the morning, and I was setting the table by the time Naomi wandered out of her room. She yawned and scratched her head as she took in the waffles, fruit salad, sausage, toast, and coffee sitting on the table before gracelessly plopping into a chair.
    “Are you conditioning me?”
    “Whaa?” I asked around the handful of fruit I’d just thrown into my mouth.
    “You know, conditioning me. Making me breakfast the day after Caleb leaves so I associate the two. Which will then make me want to throw Caleb out more often so I can have your delicious homemade breakfast, thereby giving you what you want, a Caleb-free apartment.” She’d just finished buttering her toast as she sat back and raised her eyebrows at me with a small grin on her face.
    My jaw went slack as I stared at her before I gave way to my laughter. “Are you insane?” I picked up a grape and threw it at her head. “Is this a prelaw, I-must-question-everything thing or a you-need-medication thing?”
    She snorted before she started laughing with me. “It was a joke thing, but yeah, prelaw definitely fucks with your trust. I bet in five years I won’t even trust my own stomach when it tells me I’m hungry.”
    “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
    “So, assuming you and my stomach are not plotting against me… what’s all this for?” She waved at the table as she started piling waffles on her plate.
    I shifted nervously and twisted the dishrag in my hand before tossing it on the counter and joining her at the table. “I think maybe we should go out this weekend.” I tried to sound casual, but Naomi’s reaction was proof positive that I sounded anything but.
    “Really?” she practically squealed.
    “Yeah, well… that’s what normal people do, right?” I laughed, trying to make it a joke and play off my discomfort. But just like everything else, Naomi always heard what I wasn’t saying. She saw the insecurity and pain behind my jokes and the sadness behind my laughs.
    “There’s no such thing as normal people.” She gave me a stern look until I nodded. “If you want to do something, do it. If you don’t, don’t.”
    “Right, ‘cause that’s so simple.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off. “You’re not wrong, okay? I hear what you’re saying. But there are things I want, and I think