“And yet, you were the only thing that was truly dangerous to me.”
My brow lifts at how hard her words strike.I take a beat to digest all the weight they carry.
Before I can speak, she inhales and says more.“You wanted me to be something I wasn’t.Wanted me to conform to ways that made me less than what I was.You weren’t able to love me just as I was.”
“But I did love you.”I counter quietly.
“Not enough to let me live by my own rules.That part of me, that hasn’t changed.”She looks away then, her hands settling on the table next to her plate.The silence between us loud.
I break the tension with another question.“Then why meet?Why have dinner with me?”
After a moment, she answers, her eyes locking with mine.“Because I was hoping maybe you had changed.”
She looks down at her glass, then back up at me, something quieter in her expression now, something less guarded but no less controlled.“And that’s the problem; I’m not sure if you have.”
I don’t respond to that.I don’t need to.Because she’s not wrong.I never considered that I was the one that needed to change; I always assumed it was her.And that is a problem.
Chapter Nine
Hayden
Unsteady
X Ambassadors
We don’t linger after the check is paid.There’s no reason to.The conversation has already said what it needed to.Outside, the air feels similar to our mood; quiet and cooler.
For a few steps, neither of us speaks.Not because there’s nothing to say, but because there’s so much that still needs to be spoken.I fall into step beside her, shifting automatically to the outside edge of the sidewalk as we turn the corner.
“You’re consistent.”She smiles over at me.
“It works.”
“For you.”A faint smile touches her mouth, gone almost as quickly as it appears.The silence that follows isn’t as heavy as it was inside.I attempt to shift the conversation into something lighter.
“How’s your family?”
She takes a second before answering, like she’s deciding how much of it to give.“They’re good.Still in Connecticut.Still exactly the same.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“They’re lifers.My mom still hosts too many people for the holidays.My dad still pretends he doesn’t enjoy it.”
“As long as they’re happy, some things don’t need to change.”
“No.Some don’t.”The words linger just long enough before she turns them.“What about yours?”
“They’re still in Berwyn.”
Her brows lift slightly.“Really?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you might have moved them.”
“I did.”
That gets her attention, her face turning toward mine, a brow quirking up.
