My chest squeezed.
“If you don’t give me the time I asked for, it’s over. Simple as that. I’m finished and through with this, and I won’t look back. I don’t care about our history.”
I didn’t know who was on the other end, but the mood had shifted, and whatever lightness had been floating around him felt like a pin had popped it.
I stepped away before I could hear more and headed toward the stairs.
By the time I passed the front desk, I’d smoothed my face back into something normal.
Ben came down ten minutes later, looking freshly showered, jaw tight, and shoulders tense. He offered me a faint smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Hey,” I said lightly, pretending I hadn’t just overheard enough to knot my stomach. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah,” he said. Too fast. “All good.”
I nodded, forcing a little brightness into my voice. “Well, if you’re up for it, I was thinking we could do dinner tonight. I mean, no truck breakdowns, no surprise guests, no rogue beavers. Just food. And the company.”
Ben hesitated.
And that hesitation?
It sliced me right through the middle.
His eyes darted to the side, then back to me. “I can’t tonight.”
“Oh.” I blinked. “No worries.”
“Just… something came up,” he added, like that made it better. It didn’t.
My smile didn’t budge, but my chest felt like it had been hollowed out with an ice cream scoop.
“Totally fine,” I said. “Rain check.”
He nodded, then mumbled something about needing to go grab his laptop and turned to head back toward the stairs after he grabbed a muffin.
I stood there for a second after he disappeared, trying not to let it show.
Trying not to feel like a balloon slowly deflating in the corner of the room.
Of course, he had things going on.
Of course, I knew this was temporary.
But it still stung.
Because after the way he looked at me in that truck bed, and the way he kissed me like hemeantit, I thought… maybe.
Maybe it was more.
And now?
Now I didn’t know what to think.
Was he married? Engaged?
I told myself to shake it off. He had a life in Florida. He had work stress. He had every right to set boundaries and keep things simple.
But no matter how hard I tried to talk myself out of it…
