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Never in the short while I’d been imagining this scenario was Abbie left behind. The thought of her wanting to stay never, ever entered my mind.
Because there'd been no logical reason for her to stay.
“Say what?” I managed when I finally found my voice. It came out like a hoarse whisper, the best I could currently manage.”
“I’m good where I am. I have a job, remember?”
“At Jimmy’s.”
“Yeah, at Jimmy’s.” Her tone was suddenly defensive. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her chin jutting in the air just the slightest as she looked at me. “Is there something suddenly wrong with Jimmy’s?”
With Jimmy’s suddenly held an edge to it I didn’t think I wanted to tackle.
I ran a hand over my hair. How did I answer that? “There’s diners and restaurants in LA.”
“Uh huh, and most people working there want to make it in Hollywood. I don’t.”
“So you’d be different already.”
“I’m happy—”
I looked at her. I knew her. I knew her better than I think she knew herself sometimes. “Don’t lie.”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t lie. You aren’t happy, Abs. The happiest I’ve seen you has been when you’re here with your camera in hand...”
“The most you’ve seen me in months is here. You’ve been too busy working eighteen-and twenty-hour days for months and spending your off time screwing whoever the flavor of the month is.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You don’t do relationships, Lucas. God, I’ve known that for years, and yet somehow, I...”
“Somehow you what?”
She looked annoyed with herself. “Forget it.”
“Oh, no. If we’re laying it all out now, lay it all out.”
If we were going to self-destruct, we were going to self-destruct big time.
I leaned my hands on the counter. “Come on, you’ve got something you want to say.”
She stared at me, the fiery defiance in her eyes new. “We’re a fling, and maybe it’s for the best we had it before you leave. We won’t have to deal with all those what-ifs and what could have beens. We know now.”
“Abbie…this isn’t a fling.”
“It’s not?” She shook her head.
“Why would I want you to come with me if it was just a fling?”
“Because I’m your best friend. You don’t want to be alone.” She almost sounded convinced those words were true.
I shook my head. “Why do you want to stay?”
“I already told you, I’m happy.”
“What about goals? Ambitions?”
