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Her eyes soften. “The crash?”
I nod. “And other stuff. He really needs his privacy and peace right now. I hope he won’t always need it, but for now, he does.”
“Then just wait a bit and see what he does,” Ann Marie suggests. “Don’t get rid of this place so quickly.”
“I can’t hinge the advancement of my dreams on what he wants to do. I’m ready to get going on mine. I have to be responsible for my own happiness.”
“You’re giving up an awful lot for him,” she muses with a knowing look. “This is way more than just amazing sex, isn’t it?”
“For me, it is. For him, I don’t know.”
Her hand comes to rest on my knee, and she squeezes. “I’m sorry. That sucks.”
A smile plays at my lips as I consider how things have progressed. “He’s not the same man who knocked me over on the trail while I was trying to pull up my pants two months ago.”
Ann Marie snickers.
“He’s changed… opened up. We’ve had deep talks, and it’s definitely more than just sex. It’s more than just friends too. Even for him, I believe. I just don’t know if we’re on the same page as far as our futures are concerned.”
“So find out,” she exclaims.
“I will,” I reply with a doleful laugh. “We definitely need to talk. So funny we had this expiration date to coincide with the court date that will decide the injunction. That’s when I figured I’d have my answer.”
“Is he going to win?” she asks.
I shrug. “It’s moot, though, since I’m not going to build. Even if I win, I’m moving on. I don’t want to take away the one place he’s found peace in. I can’t do that to him.”
Ann Marie’s forehead creases with worry. “You’re giving up an awful lot for a man who I don’t think would do the same for you.”
“I know,” I murmur, resisting the urge to rub at the ache in my chest. “But for me, it’s the right thing to do.”
Ann Marie doesn’t say anything, and I know she’s trying to figure out ways to talk me out of this.
But ultimately, she won’t. She’ll support me.
Just as I’ll support her if she moves to Baltimore.
That’s what besties do.
I push up from the couch, wineglass nearly empty. “Let’s fix the butter chicken. Then we’ll get online and start looking at available properties. I’m willing to branch out a good thirty miles from Coudersport, so hopefully that will open up some options. Maybe I can go look at some tomorrow.”
“Maybe you should look in Baltimore,” she suggests with a twinkle in her eye.
I consider that. I really don’t want to leave Coudersport, but really… what’s holding me here? “Okay… let’s look at Baltimore, too, just for fun.”
My Realtor, Jamie Nowak, will gladly take me around on a Saturday to look at properties here locally. He’s another friend I’ve known my entire life, plus he’ll be eager to earn another commission, not only on reselling my property but helping me find a new one.
I have a solid plan in place that will keep my dreams moving forward. Now I just have to figure out what Coen and I really are and if we have a future together.
CHAPTER 24
Coen
Not so awkward,sitting here with Gage, Stone, and Baden. They’re the three people within the Titans’ organization—along with Brienne Norcross and Callum Derringer—who consistently tried to help me through these dark months.
While I wasn’t very good at engaging with them or accepting offers of help, and I outright rejected their advice, I at least know these people care. That has never been lost on me.
I was just incapable of gratitude for their concern for a very long time.
