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“Do I look like I’m waiting for coffee?” Alex sneered at the stranger. “I’m talking to my girl.”
Which she wasn’t and never would be.
Getting to the front of the line, she smiled at the server. “Hey, Chuck. Skinny mocha frap, no whip, please.”
“Skinny?” Chuck said. “Guilty weekend?”
Conceding a laugh, it was easier to ignore the guy in her periphery when she had someone else to talk to. “You could say that.”
“Rainie,” Alex beseeched her again.
Her smile flattened. Restraining her anger wasn’t easy. What she really wanted to do was spin around and release a tirade of truth that he definitely wouldn’t appreciate.
“Is this guy bothering you?” the guy behind in the line asked.
“What the hell is it to you?” Alex snapped. “You’re bothering her.”
“Rainie,” Chuck asked. “You okay?”
Community wasn’t as dead as the media might have society believe.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I just ignore it.”
“I think you should leave her alone,” the line guy said.
“I think you should leave me alone,” Alex replied to him.
“You’re harassing her.”
Rainie showed Chuck another smile and left the men in the line to go to the end of the counter and wait for her coffee. At the milk cart, she snagged a few napkins. When she turned back to put them in her purse, Alex was right there in front of her.
“We have to talk,” Alex said. “Please, just give me a chance to explain.”
With emotion bubbling so close to the surface, it was difficult to restrain herself. Hence why it wouldn’t be a good idea to look him in the eye. Except she did. His contrition was right there, as potent as her rage. It would be too easy to give in. Too easy to give him what he wanted. Since they’d met, he hadn’t cared about her wants. If he had, he wouldn’t have lied to her every minute they were together.
She wanted to slap him. To scream at him. To punish him for hurting her. Damn, she hated that he’d hurt her. Almost as much as she hated the tears gathering on her lashes. The moment he saw them, he inhaled, his whole body growing as he filled his lungs.
“Baby,” he murmured, raising his curled fingers to her cheek. She recoiled before he could make contact. “I won’t give up on this. I’ll keep showing up until you hear me. You don’t know how determined I can be, but you will…” She didn’t reply. “What happened to the Rainie who doesn’t hold grudges?”
Yes, she’d said that. But she’d also told him she was angry and sad before getting over whatever had happened. And that was in romantic relationships. She’d never had a male friend devastate her so completely. Even processing what had happened was near impossible. What would the long-term impact of his actions be? Would she be able to trust any new man who came into her life? She’d be more suspicious of new people now for sure.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he said, edging even closer. “I can’t lose you, Rainie Tait. Please. Whatever it takes… You want me to beg?” Taking a long step back, he swallowed and opened his arms. “I’ll drop to my goddamn knees right here if that’s what it takes.”
When his knee bent and it looked like he really might, she leaped forward, laying a hand on his chest. “Don’t.” Damn. Why had she touched him? Seeing her hand there against him, she squirmed and took it away. “What do you want?”
“A chance,” he said. “To talk. There are things you have to know before you decide to hate me… I know you hate me now—”
“I don’t hate you,” she admitted. “I should. I want to. But I can’t give you that power. You’re not the man I thought you were.”
“Talk,” he said, his fingers grazing hers. “Please. I just want to talk.”
They could go to their table and she could listen. But in that public place, she wouldn’t be able to react, not how she wanted to react. She couldn’t trust herself to keep a lid on her emotions.
Seeing him again had been a possibility, but she hadn’t figured out what she wanted to say or how she really felt about what had happened. How she felt about the truth.
“Rainie!” the barista called out, putting her drink on the counter for her.
“I’ll come over after work,” she said, her tone flat.
