Me too, Blair. Me too.
“You really want to know?”
I nod.
“My husband cheated on me.”
The words leave her lips so fast that I don’t have time to fully register what she just said.
Her husband?
Are they still married?
Did he fucking hurt her?
I remain silent, hoping like hell that she keeps going.
“That’s why I’m here,” she continues. “I want to start over. I want to find my independence again and learn who the hell I really am.” She pauses, looking down at the ground. “I’ve spent my entire life having other people do things for me. I’ve always relied on my parents or my husband for things. I don’t want to do that anymore. I moved sixteen hours away so that I can make something ofmyself. To get out of the city and finally be…who I’m meant to be.”
My heart thunders in my chest with every word out of her mouth.
I knew she’d been through some shit, but I never expected this to be it. And I fucking hate myself for thinking about my past in this moment because that’s what she did to me.
I take slow steps toward her, and every part of me wants to wrap her in my arms.
She’s not my ex.
I know this with every fiber of my being.
When she refuses to look at me, I take her chin between my fingers and force her to look at me. The same electric buzz flows through my body with just one touch again.
“Regardless of trying to find your independence or not, there’s no way in hell I was letting you build a deck on your own to find it.”
She blinks but says nothing. Keeping her eyes locked with mine.
They burn the way they always do.
“How about this,” I start, keeping my tone level, releasing my hold on her chin and stuffing my hands in my pockets to calm the fire I feel on them. “Next week, we go down to the General Store and you pick out the stain you want, and we finish it. You’re in control of it.”
Just like she’s slowly gaining control over me.
“We?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.
I nod.
She looks from the deck and back to me, thinking about it.
“Okay,” she finally agrees.
I want to smile. I want to acknowledge that her agreeing to this actually makes me happy for the first time in a while, but I can’t get my head to cooperate.
I move to load the tools in the back of the truck and finish cleaning up the loose pieces of wood, tossing them into the truck’s bed. Once I slam the tailgate shut, I turn around and Blairstands there, staring at her new deck, delicately running her fingers along the new railing in place.
The corner of my lip twists up, but I turn around before she catches me.
Just as I’m about to make it to the driver’s side door, she stops me.
“Griffin,” she shouts.
