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I wanted to ask him what crawled up his ass, but I already knew. He was on to me. And he wasn’t buying any of the bullshit I’d been slinging claiming that Jenna and I were just talking because of that stupid reception.
“Yes, sir.”
I’d learned sometimes it was better to say as little as possible, but Wyatt was ex-military too. His jaw clenched and he took a step closer. “I swear to God if you hurt her, I’ll skin you alive. Got it?”
He stared at me, his hard glare zeroing on my eyes, and that’s when I saw it—the worry. He wasn’t just being a hard-ass to be a hard-ass. He was worried about her—what I’d do to her—and after the way I’d mangled things last night, maybe he was right to be worried.
The tension in my shoulders dropped and my voice was genuine when I said, “Yes, sir.” Because I had no intention of hurting Jenna. I’d been in this from the very beginning. I may not be ready to spill my guts out to her yet, but I’d never purposefully hurt her.
“You’re free to go,” he said, seeming reluctant, but I didn’t stick around long enough for him to change his mind.
I pulled up to Jenna’s house more nervous than I’d ever been. I’d never hurt a woman I was falling in love with, so I wasn’t really sure how to handle the situation. I had a bouquet of her favorite flowers—dahlias—and a bag of her favorite candy—ROLO caramels—but I wasn’t sure it would be enough to get her to forget about last night and put us back where we were before my nightmare fucked it all up.
I knocked on her door and waited patiently for her to open it. There was a shuffling and then she opened the door wearing my favorite outfit—a loose sweater and leggings. I didn’t know why it was my favorite, except that I loved how relaxed she looked whenever she wore it.
Except she didn’t look as relaxed as normal. She looked guarded, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that she didn’t smile at me like she normally did when I came over. My stomach twisted painfully and my chest felt tight.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hi.” She leaned against the doorframe, her gaze dropping to the flowers and chocolate in my hands.
“I know this doesn’t make up for last night, but I’m hoping it’s a start.”
She stared at me wordlessly, her eyes darting back and forth between mine and her teeth nibbling on her lower lip.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
It was all Icouldsay until I could figure out how to get the words out without my body physically going on lockdown. But I had a sinking feeling in my gut that it wasn’t enough, and I was running out of time if I didn’t figure my shit out soon.
She released her lip and stepped back, allowing me room to walk in, but her beautiful smile was still missing. She walked over to her couch, pulling a blanket over her and then grabbing the remote. I set the stuff I’d brought for her down on her coffee table and then sat beside her.
“I hope you like rom-coms because I’m not changing my movie for you.”
I fought my smile. I’d never seen this side of her before, and even though I hated being the cause of her upset, I couldn’t deny she was kind of cute when she was sulking.
“Rom-coms are fine with me.” Honestly, I’d watch anything she wanted as long as it meant she wasn’t kicking me out.
Because it meant she hadn’t given up on me yet.
WHEN YOU OPEN UP, OTHERS WILL OPEN UP TOO
JENNA
I’d always thought that phrase “like a chicken with your head cut off” was weird. Maybe because I’d never been around farm animals or seen a chicken with its head cut off, but I suddenly had a greater appreciation for it. Nothing else came close to comparing how I felt as we neared the reception for my mom and her new husband. It was two days away, and the number of things I still had to do to pull it off in a way that wouldn’t get me a guilt trip from my mom made my head spin.
My apartment was covered in tulle and packages of Jordan almonds. My mom’s reception wish list had been clear that she wanted these at every place setting. Considering I wasn’t going to be able to get the monogrammed placemats because of a backorder issue, this was something I was determined to finish.
A key jingled in the lock and then Connor was opening the door, his arms full of groceries because I was completely out of food and he’d insisted on stopping by the store on his way home.
Not that he lived here. He didn’t. Just because he was here every night and hadn’t been back to Grant’s in a week and had a key didn’t mean he was living here.
It was just easier.
I scrubbed my forehead with the tips of my fingers. My denial game had gotten really good since we’d gotten together. Hell, maybe it had always been this good. Maybe that was why I’d never seen the signs of Sadie and my dad hooking up behind my back.
No, I couldn’t think about that right now. I was happy for them and didn’t have brain space to spare feeling anything besides focused on wrapping these fucking Jordan almonds.
What genius came up with this idea anyway? Did they actually do this themselves or were they rich enough to realize that it’s a real giant pain in the ass to individually wrap Jordan almonds in tulle.
