“Well no, I hardly recognized you—what with clothes and all. Let alone a turtleneck inAugust.”
Armand bit his lip. “Would you believe I didn’t choose this ensemble?”
I smirked at him over the rim of my water glass. “I was wondering what the ghost of Steve Jobs was up to these days.”
“I had ground to make up,” Armand insisted, “what with the blood and the ink, a-and thenaked...”
“I wasn’t that much better.” I grimaced—if only I could purge that night from my mind forever. “I’m sorry I was so bossy. I mean, I just started ordering you around; I can’t imagine what you think of me—” And this was it, this was when he would tell me it had been too much, that I’d already showed too much of my ugly side and it had ruined everything.
Armand had gone very still and was staring at me wide-eyed. “Right.” He coughed. “How dare you be competent and comfortingly assertive in your care.” He smiled. “It waslovely—er, as much as anything involving that much blood can be lovely, that is. I felt safe with you, Lucas. You weren’tbossy, you were—” His face was practically glowing. “Thank you. For ordering me around and taking care of me. E-especially since you seemed to have been having a rather rough night to begin with?”
I’d nearly slumped in relief at,“I felt safe with you, Lucas.”No one had ever said that to me before. “Yeah, I’d just come from Milkshake’s deathbed.”
Armand blinked at me. “Pardon?”
Oh god, way to kill the mood, Barclay.“Grandpa Milkshake, one of our senior horses ... he passed. Old age, nothing traumatic. And that’s where I was right before—” I offered him a gentle, sympathetic smile “—you impaled yourself on an inkwell, like I keptsayingyou would if you keep leaving them on the floor—”
Armand’s hand had snuck across the table and rested over mine. Warm and smooth and beautiful.
“I’m sorry.” He withdrew it immediately and fisted it in his lap. “That must have been terrible for you, I’ve seen how much you love your horses.”
His face scrunched up, as if he thought he’d crossed a line. But all I wanted was that hand back. I snuck mine closer, letting our fingertips graze. “That’s okay. It was his time, and he went quietly without pain or fear ...”Oh god, don’t think about a dead horse right now. Talk about something, anything else!
Armand beat me to it.
“I have to say, though,” he said thoughtfully, “you do look familiar, from somewhere other than that humiliating little episode last night.”
My eyes snapped back to him in amusement. “You mean you think you might’ve seen me before,notcovered in hay and mud?”
Armand nodded and squinted at me. “Aye, I’m quite sure of it, especially when you smile. I’ve seen you somewhere before ...happy.” He paused for only a second, then his lips pulled up in a grin. “The airport. When I arrived at the baggage claim. I think you were texting.”
Noway.“Youwere the werewol—” I cut off with a choked laugh as I gaped at him. “Idoremember you! You didn’t respond when I talked to you. Kinda looked like you were in your own little angsty world.”
Armand chuckled awkwardly. “That does sound like me. I remember you looking disgustingly full of joy. Who were you talking to? Was it Skyler?”
The other shoe on the subject change came crashing down. My throat went cold as I swallowed. “Darren.”
“Oh, aye, right. The ex.” He fiddled with his chopsticks. “Sorry.”
I forced a shrug, hoping it was nonchalant. “No worries. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Oh?” Armand asked, a little pointedly. Okay, maybe a lot pointedly.
I picked at a loose thread in my rolled-up napkin. “Right, I forget you were actuallythereto witness the dramatic aftermath ...” I gathered from the strength I’d pulled out of my ass this morning.Please don’t think worse of me after hearing this.
“He, uh—” God it was really going to suck having to say this out loud. “He’s a piece of shit, and the fact that I didn’t see it for like ten years makes me extremely stupid and pathetic ...” My gaze drifted down to the table instead of staying on Armand’s distracting face. “He was always jealous, he wanted to be in charge of how I acted and how I dressed, but I think I always kind of knew he was embarrassed by me. He never even publicly admitted our relationship—whatever it was—until, well.” Until I’d lost weight, until he’d deemed me acceptable. I shrugged again, braving a glance back up. “I was the only one that ever called us boyfriends. And then he has the absolute audacity to ambush me at my favorite bakery this morning to convince me to take him back. Obviously I didn’t,” I added at the look that flittered across Armand’s face. “But, yeah. That’s the highlights for you. Feel free to run out of here in disgust should the impulse strike you.”
But there was nothing on Armand’s face but kindness—not pity, not judgment—that stole the breath from my lungs. “That’s not an entirely unfamiliar story,” he said quietly, gently.
Okay now there was a definite lump in my throat. “I know I’ve already mentioned it,” I said, and it wasn’t enough, “but thank you. Again. For everything. The muffins. The notes. For, um, caring.”
Armand hunched further in on himself. “Oh, er. It was nothing. I just ... I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
“I am.” Which was so startlingly true that my skin buzzed. I raised a playful eyebrow at him. “Nothing snaps you out of your funk like finding a large, naked man bleeding in your bathroom. And you’re blushing again.”
“I am?” Armand reached up, like he had to touch the warmth of his cheek to believe me. His jaw was lightly stubbled and defined, and I knew I was staring but I couldn’t stop. He smiled crookedly. “I am.”
“It’s weird though; I thought for sure I was going to run into you the night of my breakup. Aren’t you normally home around that time?”
