When he lets out an agitated groan, I look over to see him staring directly at me.
“What? What did I do now?” I ask, assuming he’s about to grill me for something else.
“Why did you come back to Wren Cove?” He surprises me by asking.
“Why does it matter?” I fight to keep any emotion from slipping into my voice.
“Why can’t you just answer the question?” His agitation flares.
“Are you asking as my boss or as my...” I trail off, realizing that’s all he is—my boss. He’s not my friend. Not my boyfriend. Not the boy I loved more than life itself. Just my boss. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. I came back because I wanted to.” The lie tastes like acid on my tongue.
In truth, I didn’t want to come back. I tried so hard not to that I nearly found myself homeless. I never understood what kept me away, why I refused to come home for holidays and special occasions. Why my parents and Josie always had to come to me, never the other way around. But deep down, I think a part of me has always known—because I was afraid to face the man currently studying me like I’m a confusing piece of art that he can’t figure out the meaning of.
“Because you wanted to,” he states flatly, not trying to hide the fact that he doesn’t believe that lie for a single second.
“I missed my family. New York is crowded... and expensive.”
“And dance? You just gave it up?”
“So what if I did?”
“Just trying to figure out why you would walk away from something that seven years ago was worth imploding my life for.”
My expression hardens.
“For what it’s worth, I never meant to implode your life.”
“Good to know. Unfortunately, it’s not worth much.” He turns his attention back to his computer, effectively ending the conversation.
I open my mouth and close it again at least a hundred times over the next few minutes, wanting so badly to tell him the truth, to apologize, to beg him to forgive me, but at the end of the day, I don’t think that it would change anything. So I hold onto my pride even though I know I shouldn’t.
Finally, after the longest fifteen minutes of my life, Penn gets up and, without a word, exits the office. I look out the window, making sure he’s out of earshot before blowing out an audible breath.
“Goodbye to you, too,” I grumble, turning my attention back to my computer, determined to get my morning work done as quickly and efficiently as possible so as not to give him any more reason to berate me like the incompetent employee he clearly thinks I am.
“SO, HOW ARE YOU LIKINGworking for Penn?” Travis takes a tentative sip of coffee as he sits across the small table from me, legs stretched out in front of himself like he couldn’t be more relaxed.
Wish some of that would rub off on me. Lord knows I could use it.
“I don’t like it. Not even a little bit.”
He sputters on his coffee, half laugh, half cough, like this was the furthest thing from the answer he expected me to give.
“No?” He arches a brow. “Might be the first time I’ve heard that response. Everyone loves Penn. Or at least, I thought they did.”
“Penn and I go way back and let’s just say we aren’t exactly friendly.”
“Oh...” He seems amused by this, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, drawing my focus to his full lips.
Travis is a lot better looking than I originally gave him credit for. Needless to say, he cleans up well. I almost didn’t recognize him when I first walked in—dressed not in dirty overalls but in dark jeans and a white shirt, his sandy-blond hair still wet from the shower.
“Yeah, oh.” I take a drink of my latte because I have no idea what to say, trying hard not to grimace at the bitter taste. I don’t know why I ordered coffee. I should have just ordered a tea or something.
“So when you say you go way back...”
“We dated in high school,” I answer honestly because I have no reason to lie. It’s not like Penn and I are some big secret. Ask anyone in town and they’ll tell you we used to be inseparable.
Boy, how things have changed...
