Chapter 35
I turned to look, and there he was, gazing at me through the glass. He wasn't smiling, but then again, neither was I.
Still, my pulse jumped as I devoured the sight of him. His grey T-shirt clung to his pecs and fell loosely over his waist as he stood, still and silent, watching me watching him.
In the background, I heard Cassie say, "I'll just check on that thing in the kitchen." A moment later, I heard her footsteps receding toward the back room, where they ended with the sudden sound of the radio, cranked up to some oldies station.
Almost in a trance, I stood and walked slowly to the door. As I did, I reminded myself of every vow I'd made over the last few days.
I was done falling into his arms every time he showed up out of the blue. I was done acting like no matter what happened, I'd always be there, waiting like the sap I was. But was I done with him, period? As in forever? I honestly didn't know.
My brain said one thing, but my heart said something else entirely.
As I pulled open the door, I put my brain firmly in charge and waited for him to speak first.
He still wasn't smiling when he said, "You got a minute?"
Wow, a whole minute. Lucky me.I shrugged. "I guess."
He looked toward the shop's interior. "Want to talk in there? Or in my car?"
I spotted his car, parked at the curb across the street. A little privacy would've been nice, but why bother, given the time constraints? I gave him a thin smile. "How about right here?"
His voice was flat. "In the doorway."
"Sure," I said, "I mean, we've wasted thirty seconds already. The time's half gone, right?" I met his gaze head-on. "Or, does the timer start tickingwhenwe reach your car?"
If he was amused, he didn't show it. "There's no timer."
Maybe not. But therewasa calendar. And even though I didn't have a calendaronme, I did know that it had been several days since he'd promised to call me back. I wanted to bring it up, to demand to know why he hadn't called, and to throw his own words in his face."If you don't answer, I'll keep calling 'til you do."
But that would just be more of the same – me, being pathetic.
So all I said was, "Alright. You pick – the car, here, whatever – it's all the same to me."
With a frown, he glanced down at his watch.
I felt my jaw clench.No timer, huh?I gave a bitter laugh. "In a hurry?"
He shoved a hand through his hair. "Alright, you want me to say it? Yes. I am." His gaze met mine, and I saw a flash of emotion – raw and fierce, burning across the short distance. "But I don't wanna be."
I made a sound of frustration. "Then why are you even here?"
"You can't guess?"
"I don't want to guess. I'm tired of guessing." My voice rose. "And why didn't you call?"
Damn it.So much for playing it cool.
"When?" he asked.
"Oh, come on," I said. "You know when. You said, 'I'll call you back in five minutes.' But you never did. That was what? Four days ago?"
He shook his head. "Didn't they tell you?"
It took me a few seconds to realize who he meant. "Who? Steve and Anthony?" Oh yeah. They said you'd call me later. But let me ask you something. What does 'later' mean to you?" I held up a hand. "You know what? Don't even answer. How about this? I'll tell you what it means to meandpractically everyone else on the planet. 'Later' means, later on that night, or maybe the next day. It doesn't meannever."
"You think I didn'twantto call?"
