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“Ugh. Can we not?” I beg.
“Nope.” She pops the p. “We definitely are.”
I hear something thump on the side table next to me, and after a second of praying, I crack my eyes open and see a bottle of Gatorade and two tablets on the nightstand.
“I take back all the mean things I thought about you just now,” I whisper from a scratchy throat.
Reaching over, I snag the tablets and then open the sports drink to sip.
“Get up and dressed. I’ll make you some breakfast.”
While I’m not hungry, I listen, and after throwing on a long-sleeve shirt and sweatpants, start down to the living room where the smell of actual eggs and bacon floats through the air.
I all but collapse into one of the breakfast nook chairs and lean my head in my hand. Sam bustles around the kitchen and drops a cup of coffee in front of me. The smell of dark roast wafts up to my nose and I sip greedily, thankful she knows how to use my new coffee maker as the hot liquid clears some of the cobwebs from the night before.
Next up is a plate loaded with breakfast, and I snag a piece of bacon and nibble on it.
After another fortifying sip of not-burnt coffee—best friends are the universe’s little nuggets of happiness—I say, “I’m not sure how to fix this.”
“You want to fix it?” Sam asks after sitting next to me with her own breakfast.
I nod. “If I can. You were right. I wasn’t being fair to accuse War, and I didn’t really give him a chance since we started dating. I didn’t realize that I was keeping everyone at arm’s length. It’s just, after losing Gran, I didn’t want to get…”
“Hurt again.”
“Yeah,” I say pathetically.
“I understand. But you can’t shove everyone away in life in hopes that you can avoid the pain of living. That’s no life to have, Chip.”
I nod. “I know.”
“War will be at the masquerade ball tonight. Maybe you should try talking to him there. You’ll both be in public and unlikely to start anything that can cause a scene.”
“You’re right.” I spear a piece of scrambled cheesy egg and shove it into my mouth.
“Do you have a dress and mask?”
“I do. I was going to surprise Warrick.”
“Perfect.” She stands and grabs her purse. “Now that that’s sorted, I have some of my own errands to get done. I’ll see you later?”
I nod, and she walks to the door before turning back to me.
“Oh and you should know that Warrick brought your car back this morning.”
I whip my head around. “What?”
“Warrick saw your car parked in the bar parking lot. He asked me if I could grab your keys, so I stopped by and used my key to let myself in and grabbed your car keys this morning before getting breakfast stuff. Warrick asked Gunnar to follow him back here so you didn’t have to figure out how to pick your car up from town.”
“Oh.”
She smiles at me and then disappears through the front door.
He didn’t have to do that. I would have figured it out.
But he did. Because he cares.
He’s been nothing but caring since I moved to town. Only my own stubborn need to be alone pushed him away. Even after I stomped all over his feelings last week, he went out of his way to make my day easier, to help me.
