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“I have a few thoughts on that.” Max leaned in and began to talk. “See, I think you can make this awkward thing work in your favor. And you might have to let that grudge of yours go.”
* * * *
Van looked up from the textbook as the door to Trio came open and a bit of sunshine walked in to chase away the gloom of the afternoon. The afternoon had brought dark clouds and cold winds and a general sense that the world was complete shit.
Elisa smiled as Micky Lang greeted her.
Damn, she was pretty, and he totally hadn’t planned on seeing her again so soon. The weight of what had happened this morning hit him hard. He hated that he was fighting with Hale, but he hated that he’d hurt her even more.
Could he disappear into the floor or maybe sneak away? He wasn’t sure he was going to be welcome at home tonight. He was pretty damn sure she wouldn’t want to see him again. And Cassidy was with her. The older woman stepped inside, waving to someone through the window.
Micky put away the menu he’d been holding and gave her a nod before turning and starting for the back of house.
That was the moment she glanced around the dining room and spotted him sitting at one of the back tables, a couple of books in front of him along with his laptop.
He wished the morning had gone differently. He held a hand up, hoping she would take it for the friendly gesture he intended.
He expected her to wave back and dismiss him or turn away entirely as though he wasn’t worth seeing. He would have accepted either reaction as normal and deserved. Instead she said something to her stepmom and started walking his way.
Damn. He wanted to run away, but he was a whole-ass grown man who owed her an explanation or to sit here and let her tell him what a dick he was.
Because he was. He was stupid for getting out of that bed. He should have sucked it up and stayed. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had his heart broken before, and it would be better to have a broken heart than to be the one who’d done the hurting.
“Hey. Accounting, huh?” She looked down at his books.
“I’ve got a final next week. Right before the break,” he explained. “Then I’m supposed to head to Texas for the holidays.”
Her eyes lit up. “Then they’ll need a bartender for a couple of weeks.”
She was looking for a job? “I think Zane just works more. But maybe. I’m sorry about the way this morning went. I didn’t mean to make a scene.”
She chuckled as if the whole thing was nothing more than a funny incident. “I know. You meant to sneak away quietly. Hale meant to make a scene.”
Van knew what it looked like to bluster through a painful incident. She wasn’t unfeeling. She felt too much, and this was her way of handling it. “I don’t think he meant to make one either. Hale is unused to dealing with emotional situations, and he mishandled it. He never meant to hurt you.”
That seemed to throw her. Her face lost its pleasant expression and went blank in a way he was starting to associate with her being emotional. “Are you two okay?”
She hadn’t expected him to apologize. Van assessed the situation quickly. Elisa had walked over because she was the kind of person who wanted to rip that bandage off no matter how much it hurt. She’d wanted to get the awkward first encounter out of the way. She was still hurt, and he could potentially make some headway with her if he was open and honest. “No. I don’t know that we’re going to be okay. He’s upset with me. I know you think you heard something bad this morning, but he didn’t mean it the way you think he did. I think he’s willing to blow up ten years of friendship over what happened this morning.”
“I hope that’s not true.” Her hands went into the pockets of her jacket as though she didn’t trust herself not to reach out to him. “And maybe I was a little sensitive. I know I look super confident, but I was trained to not show weakness. This morning hurt like hell, but I’m coming to the conclusion that it was my fault. I made too much of the situation. I went into last night telling myself I would live in the moment and I utterly failed to do that. It’s cool. I came over to show my stepmom that we’re good. I think I need to because she’s going to report back to my dad, and I think he could prove to be overprotective.”
He wasn’t sure he wanted Mel Hughes to come after him. “You think he’s going to sic some aliens on me?”
