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“I was happy to do it. If you ever need anything, well, you know where I am.”
“I do,” she assured him. “I was nice to see you.”
“I was nice to see you, too.”
They sounded so fucking polite, that awkwardness a barrier that couldn’t be knocked down now. This was how they were going to leave it all. She’d described him as a friend, but he didn’t feel this way around his friends. This was something altogether different.
It was probably his fault. He’d thought about her so much over the years, and he hadn’t been prepared for this run-in. Not one bit. If he had, he would have known what to say and do.
“I should go now,” she said, taking a step toward the door. “It was really wonderful to see you.”
“Same here. I?—”
He didn’t go on because Mia had turned and fled inside the building, leaving him standing on the sidewalk and pondering what in the hell had just happened.
One thing for sure had, however.
He could put the past away. No more unanswered questions. No wondering about what-ifs. Mia was fine and living her life.
He had that much wanted closure, but it didn’t feel as wonderful as he’d hoped.
9
“Girl, what on earth is going on? Spill it.” Lane demanded when they were back at the table. Mike and Cory had gone to the gaming area and were playing a vintage pinball machine that they’d been eyeing all evening. “Who was that guy? I’ve never seen that look on your face before.”
“It was Grant.”
Lane’s eyes widened comically, sitting back in her chair. She’d heard all of the stories, including the “main” part. They were as close as sisters, after all.
“Florida only has about twenty-one million people in it. Obviously, you two were bound to run into one another eventually.”
Mia rolled her eyes at Lane’s attempt at a joke. Her friend was good at using humor to diffuse most situations, but this wasn’t any ordinary situation.
This was about Grant. The man she’d thought about far too often since that hurricane.
“We did today,” Mia replied. “It was?—”
She broke off, not sure how to put into words what she’d felt when she saw him across that room. Part of her had wanted to run straight for him, and another wanted to run from the building. The later had won, but it had been a hollow victory. There had been closure but it was an unsatisfying one.
“It was?” Lane prompted. “Emotional? Intense? Messy? Romantic? Nasty? Help me here.”
“It wasn’t romantic. It was…emotional. And intense. Not messy or nasty. Mostly, it was awkward as hell. We didn’t really know what to say to one another. He said that he’d worried about me for a long time, and that he was disappointed that I never let him know that I was okay.”
“He has a point.”
Lane had often encouraged Mia to get in touch with Grant, if only to let him know that she was safe and sound.
“I apologized. And he did, too, although looking back on the conversation I’m not sure what he was apologizing for. Maybe for being upset that I didn’t let him know? Shit, I don’t know. It was just weird.”
“I got an eyeful of him. He’s hotter than Florida in August. I can easily see why you slept with him.”
“It was more than sex,” Mia insisted. “He’s a truly good person. I don’t go around jumping into bed with random men.”
“I know that, which makes me wonder why you let him walk away from you tonight. This was your chance. Did you give him your phone number? Make a date to meet and catch up?”
“Of course not.”
It had crossed her mind, though. She’d immediately tossed the idea away given the strange tension between them.
