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“I’m supposed to be meeting someone,” she says as she leans in the cab. I hop over the side of the bed and pick up my jeans and pull them on. With the front half of her body still leaning inside the truck, she hisses, “Shit. I’m gonna be late.”
“Late for what? Who are you meeting? Skye,” I bark her name as I grip her arms and spin her to face me. “Talk to me. Now.”
“It’s no big deal. It’s just a meeting.”
“With who?”
“Mina.”
“What? She got back to you? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Please, Theron. It’s almost noon. She’s going to be waiting for me.”
thirty-two
Skye
Theronfinishesgettingdressed,picks up the blankets and shoves them behind the seat.
The drive back to town is as quiet as the drive out to the lake last night but someone’s stolen our warm blanket. This silence is cold. Scary. I’m afraid to break it. Afraid I’ll get hurt if I do.
But then I don’t have to. A little way down the road, Theron asks, “I just need to know why you didn’t tell me about it.”
“It’s just a meeting. But I didn’t want even the possibility of me leaving to come between us. Giving you a good excuse to get rid of me. I was afraid you’d use it.”
“Wow… You really think so little of me?”
“Theron—.”
“You tell me, who has been here for you as much as I have? I will always come for you, Skye. But it doesn’t matter if you never believe I will. If you always see me having one foot out the door. Which is a fucking joke because while I may have kept my distance it was only because I had to. In my heart, I’ve been all in from the start with you, city girl. But this isn’t going to work if you’re not all in too. And you’re not all in until you can trust me. Trust that I’m not like your parents. Or anyone else who’s left you behind.”
I don’t know what to say to that. Or how to feel about it. I want to trust him but that’s not an easy switch to flip. I trust him in so many ways. I love him in just as many more ways. But I don’t know how to shut that part of my brain up. I don’t know how not to think that at some point he’ll get sick of me, realize I’m not the girl he wants and look for a way out.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell him when he parks on the street outside Parker’s Place.
He gives me no indication he’ll be here when I get back.
I don’t want to meet Mina with this dark cloud over Theron and me. I should have told him. It’s because of him I’m even here. That Mina’s here.
With my hand on the door handle to Parker’s Place, I look back hoping to find him giving me a big smile and thumbs up for good luck. Instead, he has his eyes on the ceiling as he bangs his head on the back window, and I can read the curses on his lips.
All I can think as I walk into Parker’s is that I’m going to lose him. I might have lost him already.
thirty-three
THERON
ThewholetimeSkye’stalking to Mina, I go back and forth wondering if I should stay or go.
Skye expects me to leave. And a part of me thinks I should. She didn’t trust me enough, for some reason, to tell me about this meeting. Why the fuck should I stay?
Because I love her. Regardless of her reasons, I still love her. And I’m going to hear her out. The real question is does she love me? Her trust is shaky. We can work on that. Only if she’s willing to.
My leg shakes as I grow more impatient waiting for her to finish. I want to know what Mina’s saying. Did Skye get the gig? And more than anything I want to get this damn talk out of the way so we can get back to normal.
After more than an hour, Skye finally walks out with a tentative smile on her lips. She’s happy but afraid to show it.
Shit.
