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Well, ignorance didn’t work.
She tried to keep her smile firmly planted because he didn’t need to know how much today’s events affected her. She didn’t want him to know.
His concern melted into melancholy.
Damn. She was so terrible at hiding her emotions. At least, in the moments it truly mattered. Like right now.
Or maybe that’s not why he changed expressions. Because she practiced hard all the time to keep her emotions in check. To hide from the world how she felt inside.
His black hair was swept back in a messy array, yet one lock hung daringly over his forehead as if issuing a challenge to her.Touch me. Sweep me back. Glide your fingers through my luscious hair.And his piercing green eyes, such ache filled them to the point it made her sick to her stomach. Yet, she couldn’t do anything to stop it.
He had inadvertently confessed he liked her months ago. While it had put a strain on their friendship, she tried to ignore she knew.
Even though she wanted him with every breath in her body.
She just couldn’t have him.
She didn’t deserve him.
Well, there was no use pretending. He knew what happened today.
“I’m fine.” Her grip on the door tightened, yet she forced her smile to remain relaxed and carefree. The last thing she wanted was for him to come inside. She might shatter into a million pieces if he did.Fake it. Fake it. Fake it.
“Are you?” His frown deepened, that lonely lock of hair still begging to be touched and swept away by her dainty hands. “Detective Ramos told me you were almost shot when the perp opened fire on the cashier.”
Her smile nearly faltered. Thinking about Art—who thankfully was fine—made her want to burst into tears. He could’ve died today. Any of them could’ve. “But I wasn’t. And nobody else got hurt either. It happened, and now I’m home. I’m fine.”
His gaze fell as if he needed to hide his emotions from her. Such an uncommon gesture. He never shied away from her. She didn’t like it.
“Gabby will probably be by later. She left earlier than I did, which is why I’m here before her. But I’m telling her.” He lifted his head, all emotions masked for her to decipher. Then he swept his hand through his hair, signaling she had lost her chance to do it herself. “I hate that you hold yourself back. You always have with me, but it’s worse since you found out…since you know I like you. I can’t take my words back. I can’t just stop loving you. But I wish we could at least go back to the way things were between us. That we could go back to being friends. Not this awkward crap that’s going on here.”
He…
He loved her?
She might’ve suspected it, thought about it, considered whether or not his feelings were more than what she had heard.
But she never imagined he’d confess to loving her.
That only made it hurt worse than before.
Because she loved him, too.
Her lips might’ve twitched, betrayed she was forcing herself to smile. But they were as pretty as a picture. In perfect precision. Both sides tilted upward. She would not break down in front of him.
“I’d like us to go back to the way things were as well. Why don’t we all grab drinks and appetizers later tonight? You, me, Gabby, and Dane?”
Surprisingly, a smile finally curved around his luscious mouth. A mouth she had imagined kissing over and over since the day she’d met him. So many years ago.
“I’d like that.” He looked toward the elevator, then back at her. “I’ll leave since I can see you don’t want company, but can I use your bathroom first?”
Ugh. She told herself not to let him inside. Of course, if she refused such a request, it would only make her look like a bitch.
“Sure.”
Opening her door wider, she let him pass, then shut the door. For some odd reason, she expected him to stop and get in her space, demand she share precisely how she was feeling. Except he kept on walking until he turned the corner to head to her bathroom. Like he had asked.
Trying not to let the disappointment take control of her already battered heart, she walked back to the kitchen to finish her glass of water.
