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Axel rolls his eyes. “Get her a plant. Show her you want to see something grow with her.”
Static grunts.
Grady snorts. “Be the bunny, man.”
I don’t know what the hell that means, but Axel and a bunch of the other guys let out a round of agreement.
Baxter waves them away. “You married this girl. You gotta give her everything. The crap that scares you and the dark shit from your past. Talk to her.”
“Make her laugh,” Rux adds, then thumbs the air toward Boomer. “But that Chapstick business isn’t a bad idea either.After, though.”
The team busts up laughing… and for once, I join them.
27
Stormy
I’m standing in the back of the “Town Hall” meeting while my dad goes through the talking points we finalized last night, but I lost the thread around phasing out the Koala line when I started thinking about Liam.
He’s back for a few days. Their win last night was so exciting, I wanted to text. Tell him how amazing he played… how much I miss him. Still.
How I’m starting to think I might miss him like this always.
So… it’s better not to call.
It wasn’t like this after Ray. Never in my life have I felt so right in someone’s arms as I did in Liam’s. Like forever wouldn’t be long enough there. And now, nothing feels so wrong as being out of them.
I keep asking myself where I went astray. When I started misreading what was happening between us… how I could have been so off base. But as moment after moment plays through my mind, all I feel is… love. This sense that for the first time, I was a part of something magical.
Something…real.
That’s the part I can’t get past. The only thing in this whole fake marriage thatdidn’tfeel real was Liam telling me it wasn’t.
I close my eyes, forcing myself to remember it. That terrible moment when possibility turned to pain. I force myself to examine it. To try and understand… so maybe, eventually, I can accept it.
Except, I don’t understand. I can’t make sense of it. Not like with Ray, when every time I thought back, I wondered how I could have missed so many obvious warning signs.
As if I’ve summoned him, Ray slips in through the open door and comes to stand beside me. Arms crossed, close enough to press against mine, he gives me a smile. Like we’re still friends and I haven’t asked him to respect my space a hundred times.
“Miss anything good?” he jokes, same as he does every time he shows up late.
And suddenly, I’m justdone.
Done with Ray’s entitled bullshit.
Done trying to accept something every part of me is rejecting on a visceral level.
My breath comes a little easier. Then easier still.
The meeting ends, and when Ray looks over, the smile I return has him taking an uncertain step back. Because it’s not just some polite proximity of the real thing. It’sactuallyreal. It’s just not for the reasons he’d like.
Eventually, our parents wrap up with the various department heads angling to get a word in, and our group of six heads to my dad’s office.
Normally, we would talk about the meeting, about whatever questions came up or concerns were voiced, and then decide what kind of pizza to order for dinner at my parents’ place. Today, I close the door behind me, leaning against it as everyone settles around the office.
“Um… guys? There’s something I need to tell you.”
All heads turn my way, and my mom smiles up at me.
