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All she did was nod.
“Maybe you should go and grab a table?” Leo murmured. “She looks like she wants to throttle you.”
Rather than stand there and discuss it, he did exactly what his friend suggested and found a table in a far corner so he was completely out of Billie’s line of vision. It made him feel like a coward all over again. Hanging his head, Reid considered just getting up and leaving.
When Leo joined him a few minutes later and put their food down on the table, he sat with a loud huff. “If it makes you feel any better, all that anger wasn’t just directed at you.”
Snapping his head up, he frowned. “Seriously? What did you do?”
Groaning, Leo slouched down in his seat a little. “Avery and I were talking a few days ago, and I told her I was the one who suggested you putting some distance between you and Ashlynn. You can guess how that went over.”
“Wow…I don’t even know what to say.”
“I had no idea Ashlynn had abandonment issues. I mean, why would I? And besides, this was a completely different kind of situation! I was looking out for you because you’re my best friend and I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked to get where you are.”
Then he paused as if in deep thought before shaking his head and chuckling.
“What’s so funny?”
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but…as I sat here saying how hard you’ve worked, it also hit me how that’s not exactly true.”
“Excuse me?” he snapped. “What the hell does that mean?”
“First, relax. What I meant was that things always came easy for you. You were a good athlete, a good student, and even when you joined all those junior firefighter things, you aced everything. That’s not to say it didn’t require effort, but…” He shrugged. “It always looked like things just fell into place for you, that’s all.”
He took a sip of his coffee before responding. “Okay, I get what you’re saying and…yeah, things did come easy for me, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have to put in the work.”
“Reid, I’m sorry. I never should have said it.”
But…he did have a point.
“No, it’s really okay, but I’m not sure what that has to do with anything.”
“Well, I was going to say how you were entitled to be upset and take some time for yourself because there was a real chance you were going to lose everything you worked so hard for. No one should fault you for needing some time.”
“But…?” Because there was always a but.
“But…I think this situation with Ashlynn is going to require a level of work you’ve never done before. That is, if you want to work things out with her.”
“I love her. I love her so damn much and I hate that I’ve ruined this for us. Hell, I can’t even get her to come and talk to me.”
“To be fair, it’s only been like…a day,” Leo reasoned before taking a bite of his breakfast.
“I know, but…how can I prove to her how sorry I am or how I feel about her if she won’t give us a chance?” Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a long breath. “I hate this. I hate that all of this crap happened with the damn salon.”
He was about to say more when Billie Donovan pulled up a chair and sat down beside him.
Uh-oh…
“Did you mean what you just said?” she demanded.
“Um…” He looked nervously over at Leo before meeting Billie’s angry gaze. “Which part?”
“Are you really in love with my sister?”
He nodded.
“And do you swear that this whole running away thing was a one-time action?”
