AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Receiving that special treatment already. Soak it up, Hotshot.” Nova eyes me as if trying to convey our tables turning and all of the times I teased her for her rich girl privilege.
I lift a tight smile and lead Palmer after the manager. “You two have a nice evening.”
Dinner is strained. Our ride home isn’t much different, nor is the ride in the elevator. While I know seeing Nova soured the evening, I’m not sure which part turned Palmer against me. There was nothing but civility between Nova and me.
Once in our room, Palmer turns her back as she tears her white tank top over her head and pulls out one of her oversized nightshirts from the dresser. I brace for impact.
“I don’t know why I thought this time would be any different.”
I sit on the edge of the bed. “This time what?”
“You and Nova.”
My hands form fists.Dammit. Exhaling through my nose, I massage my temple. The last thing I want is for Palmer to feel less than or insecure about us. But I’m the reason for it. After that fall night in Burlington, I gave her every reason to second-guess me when I ran after Nova.
When she spins around, I meet her laser stare. “It’s like the moment she enters a room you become this completely different man. I’ve tried ignoring it, but I can’t anymore.”
The guilt runs like tar through my veins. What am I supposed to do? Turn to stone in front of Nova? Because that’s what it would require for me not to give the reaction Palmer keeps seeing.
“How am I different?”
“You’re like this on-edge caveman.” She shimmies out of her loose gray pants. “The tension is so uncomfortable I don’t know how to act or what to say. No one does.”
Giving my hands something to do, I work the buttons on my dress shirt. “There’s history, Palmer. Things that have us skittish I guess. I don’t know how else to explain, but it’s in the past.”
“Is it?” She crosses her arms, her nightshirt brushing the tops of her thighs. “Because from where I stand it feels very much present.”
“Just from that one interaction? We hardly even said a word to each other tonight. You’re the one who wanted to say hi. I would’ve been content with keeping things awkward.”
She digs and snatches a pair of pajama bottoms from another drawer. “Does your birthday dinner ring any bells? You and Nova might as well have been the only two people at that table with how you guys fought like it was foreplay.”
“C’mon, babe.” I lean over my knees, elbows resting there. “It wasn’t like that. We’ve pushed each other’s buttons from day one.”
“And you haven’t asked yourself why? She keeps calling you Hotshot. What is that even about?”
Every question tightens another muscle, tensing my back and shoulders until I’m hunched forward. “I doubt she means to. It’s just a nickname she gave me all those years ago because I was a cocky little punk. Every time she called me out on my crap, she used it.”
“Sounds more endearing than mocking.” She blows past me towards the bathroom, flipping the light on. “And then history repeated itself at that dinner. She took off, and you ran off after her, leaving me at another table in a restaurant.”
“I didn’t go after her. I swear. I had to use the restroom, but she happened to be leaving down the same hallway, so I said goodbye.”
She comes and stands at the doorway, running a brush through her short strands. “Convenient.”
“Palmer, nothing has happened between us. Nothing.”
Brush falling to her side, a quivering breath escapes her. “The hardest part is I believe you. Though, maybe nothing physical has gone on, in your heart, it has.”
“How? I never see her apart from when I’ve been with you. Before she showed up at our hotel room, we hadn’t even talked for like eight months.”
“Eight months, huh. That’s pretty specific. Have you been counting down the days?”
I groan with a sigh. “Stop.”
“No, I want to know.” She comes to stand before me. “You guys were talking until we got back together. Did you stop because of me?”
Shaking my head, I sit back, lifting my gaze to her. “We stopped last New Year’s.”
“Why?”
