He Kept Me Hidden Then Pushed Me To Date Others Chapter 07
Turns out, that blind date I’d agreed to-the one at the rooftop restaurant-was Nathan.
When I walked in and saw him, my jaw dropped.
He grinned. “Claire! I knew you wouldn’t recognize me. I even posted old photos on Instagram, and you still didn’t figure it out!”
That’s when I realized our mutual friend had set me up with my childhood neighbor.
Nathan told me he’d been asking about me for years. When he finally heard I was available, he’d pestered our friend to make the introduction. I’d kept brushing it off-until that one night, I finally
added him.
Looking at Nathan, I remembered everything. We’d been neighbors for ten years. Before he moved
away, he’d cried and begged me to call him. When I saw him again, he brought it up.
“Why did you never call? I gave you my number!”
“I should’ve asked for yours too.”
I told him I lost the note. Mom said no calls to boys.
Strange, though-after fifteen years apart, talking to him felt just like old times.
The day I was suspended, Nathan called. He could tell I was down, took me for drives, shopping. The
last of my gloom lifted.
He spent days with me. Before he finally confessed, he even went through my parents to ask how I
felt about him.
When they told him I liked him fine, he planned the whole confession the next day.
I never told him what kind of setup I wanted.
But he recreated it perfectly-exactly the way I’d dreamed.
Afterward, when I asked about the fireworks and drones, Nathan smiled softly. “You used to tell me when we were kids that you wanted a proposal like that. Claire, I never forgot.”
I was overwhelmed.
When his parents learned he was dating me, they came over for dinner with his mom’s famous
apple pie. The engagement was settled fast.
Across from us, Ethan heard the words “childhood friends” and his face twisted.
His voice was hoarse. “But we were together for five years. And you just-marry someone else?”,”
I stared back at him, expressionless. It was almost absurd.
He was the one who’d confessed to Gemma. He was the one who kicked me out of our home. He was the one who told everyone I meant nothing to him. And now he was acting like I was the one who’d
walked out?
I answered calmly. “Ethan, you confessed to Gemma while we were together. So don’t talk to me
about loyalty.”
Instead of anger, a flicker of hope crossed his face. “Claire, I knew it. You still care! I swear, and I were just acting. I never actually wanted to marry her-”
“Ethan. I already told you. I don’t care.”
Gemma
I had no more patience. Nathan signaled security, and they escorted Ethan off the stage. He didn’t fight. He knew he’d lost.
Regret and resentment warred on his face.
