"It's a bonus from him." He brightened. "A thousand bucks, cash. He already paid, so…" Trevor shifted uneasily. "If you say no, I guess I owe the money back."
My pulse gave a crazy little jump. "Wait. So you saw him? Like…in person?"
"Yeah. Early this morning. He showed up at my mom's place."
"You mean…in Mackinaw City?"
"Yeah, I'm staying there for the summer, remember?"
Of course I remembered.But the rest of it was knocking me sideways.
I was still struggling for something to say when Trevor dug into the pocket of his jeans. "Oh. And I'm supposed to give you this." And then, he handed it over – the same check I'd left for Griff. Across it, one word was scrawled in bold black ink: VOID.
I stared. He hadn’t just refused the money. He’d sent it back.
Fool that I was, I hadn't seenanyof this coming. And now, I had no idea what to do.
74
The Jerkwad Was Me
Maisie
I sank deeper onto the sofa. "And they're not even bike-bikes. They're motorcycles."
Tessa had returned just an hour ago, saying nothing about where she'd been. Ididask. But as usual, she'd been incredibly vague.
Even so, I hadn't wasted any time before apologizing for the other night. And to her credit, she had, too, telling me that she hadn't meant to overreact.
In the end, we'd hugged it out, and here we were – back on the same couch, discussing the exact same topic.
Griff.
Tessa gave me a sympathetic look. "Well, I guess that explains it."
I wasn't following. "Explains what?"
"Why he's so good with bicycles. I mean…they're simpler than motorcycles, right?"
I sighed. "Maybe."
Nearly ten hours had passed since the news from Trevor had changed the way I looked at everything – at Griff, at my shop, and most of all, at myself.
How had I gotten everything so wrong?
But deep down, I knew how.In the void of information, it was oh-so easy to believe the worst. And yet, it couldn't beallmy fault.Could it?
After all, I'd given Griff plenty of chances to explain.
He hadn't.
In fact, he'd said nearly nothing.
And like an idiot, I'd let all of it drop – too hurt to dig deeper and too stubborn to ask again.
But today, right after work, I'd begun digging like my sanity depended on it.
Who knows? Maybe it did.
