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“Yes, I heard about…” Harley leaves her computer to a printer in the corner, waiting for it to start up. “Your mother.”
“Yeah…”
I wish she would just turn around and look at me. Give me a sign that my presence is welcome. But maybe that’s the thing. Maybe I’m not welcome.
God, that breaks my heart.
“That must be really tough, Harley. I’m sorry.”
She is silent.
I take a couple of steps closer to her. The printer groans to life and she sighs.
“I’ve been talking with your dad about it, and–”
“Grant, I can’t talk to you about my dad. Not now.”
Harley is not a particularly tall woman, but she’s not tiny either. Right now, she’s a shrinking violet, smaller and smaller each second we speak.
Is this my fault? I hope it’s not. A few more steps toward her. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Harley takes the documents from the printer and turns, jumping when she realizes how close I’ve come to her. She freezes, feet planted on the floor.
“I’m not trying to scare you,” I say. “Or trying to…you know. I’ve missed your presence. And I know it’s for the best.”
“It is.”
“Yes, but I’ve been thinking about you. I care for you. I just want to make sure that you’re alright,” I say softly, closing in on her inch by inch.
Harley sighs, eyes closing, brow furrowed in pain. “Grant…”
“It’s okay, we don’t have to talk.” I reach out and touch the side of her face. “I’m just here and I’m thinking about you and–”
Aw, fuck it. I’m already here. Might as well go for it. I close the space between us and kiss her softly. Her body is tense and her lips do not bend with mine the way they usually do. And yet, the energy is still there, swirling between us. There’s something that just clicks into place with Harley. My mind never goes elsewhere. With Harley, all I’m thinking about isHarley.
She slides her hands up my chest and for a second I think she’s going to draw me closer. I’m sorely mistaken. Though her fists close for a second pulling me in, the next second she’s pushing me away. Our lips part and I immediately utter, “Sorry,” so breathlessly I’m not sure she hears it.
“Grant, please don’t make me refuse you,” Harley says with a pained expression.
I don’t know what to say.
“My family is going through so much. My father is…” Harley swallows hard and her jaw is so tense I’m afraid her speaking any more will break it. “We have already gone too far too many times.” Finally, fiery brown eyes lift to meet mine. They’ve never been so cold to me.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Harley takes a deep breath as if she’s about to say something of extreme importance. But she shakes her head. Deciding against it.
“It’s alright. Let’s just–” She holds up the documents she’s just printed. “Let’s do the interview and pretend like this didn’t happen, alright?”
I feel like I’ve been stabbed by a thousand arrows. She has every right to refuse me. In fact, I’m so embarrassed I didn’t read every signal blaring at me even before I walked into the room. Yet, my heart breaks. Again.
Again and again.
“You have to know it’s not because I don’t…” Harley gestures between the two of us. “It was never supposed to happen. And we’ve already made such a mess.”
Have we? Does Kent know? Do her sisters know? Are things falling apart even more than I thought possible?
All of these questions, though, I have to keep to myself. I was supposed to keep my distance from her. I’ve already crossed that boundary.
