I open my mouth, widen my eyes. “No! Of course not. He had nothing to do with that.”
“Then who is he?”
I sigh. “It’s a long story. I did something really stupid the night I got back.”
“Fuck!” He rises, rubs a hand over his face, and paces away from the hearth. “You slept with him. Had a one-nighter. Damn it, Tabitha!”
I drop my jaw.
I had no idea that’s where his mind would go, but as I think about it, after what I said, it makes perfect sense.
I stand, hands on my hips. “I did not have a one-nighter!”
“Great. A two-nighter, then. Or are you in a relationship? You certainly moved on quickly.”
“Jesus, Henry, I just told you that Lance is not the reason I didn’t come to the hospital.”
“Of course he’s not.” He pounds on his chest. “I’m the reason. You feel nothing for me. Nothing at all. You don’t give a shit whether I live or die!”
I step toward him. “Do you even hear yourself right now? I didn’t come because you said we had no future, because your mom said you were going to be okay, and because of the seminar, damn it! The seminar that is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up for my future.”
He huffs, crossing his arms over his puffed-out chest. “So this is the real thing for you, then. You and this Lance.”
“Oh my God…” I shake my head. “I told you I did something stupid that night. I didn’t say I fucked anyone. And I didn’t. I didn’t want to. I still don’t want to be with anyone.”
Except you.
The words don’t come out.
“You want to know the stupid thing I did?” I take another step toward him. “I couldn’t get you out of my head. I was trying to read my advanced assignments for class the next day, but my mind couldn’t focus. So I went out for a walk.” I take a deep breath in, steady myself. “It was after dark, and Boulder is usually safe, but I kept walking and found myself in a neighborhood that was unusually dark, and…” I choke back a sob.
His face softens. “Tabitha?—”
I gesture him to stop. “Let me finish. You want honesty? Here it is. Some guy stopped me. Scared the shit out of me. Tried to attack me. And Lance…” I sniffle. “Lance rescued me that night. He happened to be out, and he saw the guy trying to assault me. He stopped him. Then he walked me to the police station where I filed a report, and he drove me home.”
I’m panting now, and I go to the couch and sit down. Zach walks up to me and shoves his head under my fingertips.
“Good boy,” I say softly, wiping a tear from my cheek.
Henry walks toward the couch. “God, Tabitha. I’m so sorry. I’m… Fuck.”
“He saved my life,” I say. “Or at least saved me from a rape and a beating. Or being robbed. Or all three.”
“So he was just checking up on you,” Henry says, his tone sounding like he’s trying to convince himself.
Shit. Honesty. What the hell? I’m all in now. “Yes…and no.”
“What the hell does that mean?” he asks, though his tone isn’t too accusing.
I draw in another deep breath. “It means he’s been asking me out for coffee. But I haven’t gone.”
Henry inhales. Exhales. Inhales again. Says nothing.
Until—
“I’m sorry. Did the cops find the guy who attacked you? As much as I hate the idea of taking another human life, I’ll make an exception for that fucker.”
My heart nearly breaks for him then. He’s still struggling. And then the accident at his place, the surgery, the healing.
