He glanced at his phone.More missed calls—his phone was on silent—and more notifications of messages he’d need to reply to.Including one from Gerry.
Spoke to her.Seemed reluctant.
This was followed by a praying hands emoji.
Kyle sighed.Tapped back
Thanks.
But really, could he blame her?She probably thought that she’d be fed to the lions again.
A glance at the time showed it was past seven.She’d probably gone home by now.Didn’t want to talk to him.His heart burned.How he wished they could finally make things right.
He rubbed his bleary eyes, checked for the TV’s remote control.
Then movement and a light tap at the door stole his attention.“Come in.”
The door opened, and his heart skipped several beats.
Finally.She was here.
* * *
“Gen.Thanks for coming.”
She nodded, although she didn’t really know why she was here, missing her bus home and yet more valuable study time in order to talk with Kyle.Maybe it was something about the man who claimed he was a trainer on Kyle’s team that had helped persuade her.Gerry had seemed humble, and his insistence that Kyle needed to see her, his manner a million times removed from Mrs.Tinker’s autocratic attitude, had somehow convinced her.That, or the realization that she needed to talk to Kyle herself.
Nerves rattled within, but she wouldn’t let him see them.She lifted her chin.“What did you want to see me about?”
Kyle shifted against the pillows.His Adam’s apple dipped as if he was nervous too.“I, uh, heard you had a run-in with my mom earlier.”
Her eyebrows rose.“I didn’t have the run-in.She’s the one who basically attacked me, pretending to have chest pains in order to see me.”
He winced.“I’m really sorry.”
Her heart softened a little.“It wasn’t your fault,” she mumbled.
“Still, she shouldn’t have done that.And I’m sorry.”
She lifted a shoulder, glanced at her watch.She might still make her bus.“Okay.Well, if that’s it, I gotta catch a bus—”
“Gen.”
His voice held a rough raspy kind of warmth, forcing her to swallow.
“Gen, it felt like a miracle to meet you here of all places.I… I’ve wondered about you so many times.”
He had?She pressed her lips together, tamping down emotions that threatened to explode within.
“And I hate this tension between us.It just feels so… so wrong.Know what I mean?”
She swallowed again.It did feel insane.How could they have shared so much of life together for ten years, then basically blanked each other for the next decade?She allowed herself the smallest of nods.
He exhaled, as if in relief.“I tried to find you a million times, but it was like you’d dropped off the face of the earth.”
That was because, to all intents and purposes, she had.She’d needed to.
“I mean, I knew we’d broken up, but it still felt unfinished, you know?”
