“I heard that,” she sniped from behind him.
“I…oh god… I need to leave.”
Harley turned desolate eyes on me, a look I’d never seen on his face before.
“Fine. Go. Run from me. That’s what’s easiest for you, right?”
“Whoa, okay. Look, if we caused this, I’m sorry.”
Jay shoved Grease out of the way. “If you guys are having some ridiculous miscommunication, instead of just talking things out, I’ll bang your heads together. I learned the hard way that this…talking… is the only way to fix the problems.”
“It’s like she learned from her mist-” Grease grunted as she elbowed his gut.
“Seriously, talk it out. I think I made Caroline uncomfortable asking about stuff I had no right to, and Grease was no better.From what I can see, you two really like each other, maybe more than like, and I, for one, think you’re pretty perfect for each other, but that’s not my business. Just ask yourselves this. If you walk away now, will you have regrets? I did. I nearly lost everything, and I wouldn’t recommend it. Zero fucking stars.”
She dragged Grease back out of the repair bay, and Harley and I just stared at each other.
“I…”
“Yeah…”
“I’m not running, Harley.”
Chapter Twenty-One
WE REALLY JUST NEARLY stormed out on each other, but Jamie was right. If we just fucking talked instead, this could all be no big deal.
“Grease knew I spent the night… that we wereintimate, because when I was afraid to wake you from your nightmare, I grabbed my phone, looking for advice.”
“You calledhim?”
“Harsh!” Grease called out from the shop, proving the fuckers were still listening.
“Get lost, and that’s a fucking order from your VP!”
“You’re not my-” the rest of Jamie’s words were muffled, presumably my Grease’s hand, or at least I fucking hoped that’s what he used.
“I accidentally called him, and since I’d woken him, I let him in on what a prick I was being. You know what he said?”
Caroline bit her lip, stepping a little closer to me. “Um, something about wanting to kick your butt for waking him?”
I barked a laugh, unexpected, and yet somehow euphoric, because she was still here.
“Actually, yeah. You’re spot on. He also said that I should wake you up. Stop being a pussy, and just do it. I mean, then he was majorly annoying, and I hung up on him, but that’s all. I didn’t post it in some chat, or talk about it like an asshole. It meant too much to me for that.”
Did that sound any better?
“What I’m saying is, I’m not that kind of guy. I don’t talk about women I’m with. Not that I ever am. I just… Jesus, this is going off on a tangent.”
“I get it,” Caroline interrupted, smiling as she stepped closer, “I guess it’s not just me who gets the word vomit thing sometimes.”
“Gross,” I muttered, reaching out to stroke her cheek, “Seriously, you’re too important to me for any kind of guy talk about us. I didn’t even want to talk to Grease. I was trying to look for someone sensitive…” I trailed off, waiting for another argument, but the fact that there was silence either meant they’d backed off, or his mouth was busy now. Ugh.
“Harley, I’m sorry. I jumped to a dumb conclusion. I don’t know how to do this ‘day after sex’ thing. It’s a first for me. I… I guess I never really imagined what it’d be like, because I never saw me doing it with anyone. Even a week ago, I thought I wouldn’t. Even two days ago. You changed that. You changed me, I mean, not my brain, that’s still whacked or whatever-”
“I like your brain. It lets you be honest with me, when someone else might hold back.”
She looked like nobody had ever complimented her for the way her mind worked, or the way she processed things, but she clearly needed to hear it.
