“Exactly. As bad as I had it for him before, double that. Triple it, maybe.” I pulled at my hair in frustration. “I hope the fact that I’ve doomed myself to eternal heartbreak will make you feel better about this thing with Ren.”
Smile lines creased near Major’s eyes. “You know what? It does make me feel a little better.” He started to laugh, then saw my expression. He reached out, taking my arm. We looked into each other’s eyes, each of us exhaling hard.
“We are pathetic,” I said.
“But we’re sexy,” he replied glibly. “And that has to count for something, right?”
“God, I hope so.”
He laughed and let go of my arm, and we went off in opposite directions. I pulled into Ren’s driveway and turned off the engine, then promptly lost my nerve.
The only person I’d ever discussed this with was Major, and that was because he’d been there in high school to see my tragic crush on the school mascot develop into an even more tragic one-sided love affair. Had Major not witnessed the whole thing, I’d have gone to my grave without admitting these feelings for Hendrix.
It would have been easier that way.
What was I thinking, coming here?I pressed the brake and reached for the push-button start.
“Sawyer, is that you?” Ren asked, disrupting my one-man pity party.
Well…fuck.
Since I’m here.
I got out of the car and faced him. “I have a question about this,” I said, unable to temper the irritation in my voice as I held up the godforsaken compass.
I didn’t appreciate his knowing grin. “I thought you might come to me at some point.”
“Why is that?” I asked, following him inside.
The Paige home had always been clean but had a comfortably lived-in appeal. It was now spotless, and while I appreciated order, something about all the shiny surfaces didn’t sit right with me.
Ren shut the door before answering me. “Robert figured that when you and Hendrix were ready for each other, you’d have questions.”
My jaw swung loose as I followed him into his cozy kitchen, which looked a little less pristine than the rest of the downstairs. Ren turned on his electric kettle and gestured for me to sit at the kitchen table.
“So…” I hesitated. I didn’t exactly want to crack open my ribs and reveal the secrets inside, but maybe they were already known. “Mr. Paige knew about my feelings for Hendrix?”
Ren rolled his eyes, some untold memory playing behind them. “My husband could be annoyingly perceptive at times. He always suspected you were in love with Hendrix, maybe even before you knew it yourself.”
His words reminded me how everyone had known Walker had a thing for Ozzie long before they’d gotten together. Had I been that obvious?
I belatedly picked up on something in Ren’s initial response. “Wait. You said he thought I’d turn up when meandHendrix were ready for each other. Does that mean Mr. Paige thought Hendrix loved me back?”
He shook his head. “Robert knew Hendrix wasn’t there yet, but he felt that you would balance each other out. Of course, you can’t force another person to have feelings, but he figured if you two spent enough time with each other, nature would take its course.”
“Is that why he wanted Hendrix to stay in Seguin for so long?”
“Robert kept some mystery around his reasoning, but I suspect so.” Ren pulled out two mugs and added two tea bags to each. Turning to me, he asked, “Did it work?”
I lowered my head. Something told me that lying to Ren would be foolish. “We’ve started sleeping together,” I admitted. “A lot.”
“Why do you sound so sad?” he asked as the water began to bubble.
“It’s so much worse now,” I whined, unable to maintain even the thinnest veneer of self-respect.
Ren poured the hot water into the mugs and set them on the table to steep. I grabbed mine, violently dunking the tea bags. Ren reached out and put his hand on mine. “Are you sure you’re worse off?”
“Hendrix and I got a little drunk last night. Not bad, just enough to tell the truth,” I said, repeating Hendrix’s words.
