Page 87 of Sweet Talking Man


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At some point, he and Abigail had stopped being about fun, and teetered on the precipice of some thing that could hurt. Maybe it was time to retreat and reassess. Maybe it was time to think about what he needed.

He'd given Abigail what Hilda had originally suggested her cousin needed- button-popping and panty-dropping.

Mission accomplished.

Abigail pulled back. "Birdie's going to stay with my parents Saturday night, and Alice Ann will be minding the bed-and-breakfast while I'm at the wedding. Maybe when I get back we can take another moonlight swim?" Her eyes teased, tempting him to dump his last few thoughts.

Instead he dropped his arms, stepping away. "You know what? I think taking a little break would be a good thing."

"What?" she asked, before wrapping her arms around herself. “What do you mean?"

“That we should take a step back. Reassess."

"Reassess? Wait, are you saying you don't want to see me anymore? Because I didn't invite you to my brother's wedding?"

He swallowed. ''No, I just don't like feeling the way I feel right now."

"How do you feel?"

"Look, I just need some space."

"Oh," she said, her face reflecting hurt. He'd seen that look before. This was how it always felt when he pulled himself away from a relationship... except this time he held the same pain inside himself. Abigail hadn't changed the rules, but he'd changed how he felt. Maybe it wasn't fair of him, but he couldn't help it.

"Look, I'm not being childish and taking my toys and going home. But at the same time, I need time to work through what's going on in my life. So let's give each other some breathing room. Okay?"

She swallowed. "Sure. Breathing room."

"So I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow night? Then we can see about-"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I get it. This has been good, but we knew it wasn't going to last. Don't feel like you have to, uh, uphold some kind of commitment to me."

Leif didn't know what to say. He wasn't even sure how things went south so quickly. It was like a bitter last bite of pecan pie with nothing to wash the taste from his mouth. "So..."

"Let's do a clean break. You're wrapped up in finding your father, Birdie's being a pain in the ass, and Cals' just Cal, and we've got the festival. Things are complicated. Let's undo one of them. Besides this was getting...I don't know."

But he did. They were both getting too attached to each other.

"So let's just, um, stop before things get hard," she said.

Something tore inside him, but he knew she was right. They'd been dancing too close to the flames. If they didn't step away, they'd catch fire and burn. "Maybe this is for the best."

But it didn't feel that way.

A horrible heaviness sank in his gut and the back of his throat ached.

Abigail turned her head away. "So this is it. I don't think I've ever really done this before. The last guy who dumped me sent me a text and the one before that just left. I've never actually broken up with any one before."

Leif rubbed his hands over his face. "But we're still friends, right? I mean, we have to see each other."

"Yeah. Sure," she said, but her chin wobbled a little. "I gotta go. It's really late, and-" She sniffed, turning toward the doorway. "I'll see you later."

"I'll walk you out."

"No," she barked, not turning around. "I know the way."

And then she hurried from his room, her soft-soled boots swishing a goodbye on the hardwood floor of the hallway. Leif clutched his chest, fingernails digging painfully into his skin as the front door opened... and then closed.

The shutting of the door made the whole nightmare that had just played out final.

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