No, because she wanted to eathimup, and that was a problem she couldn’t handle at the moment.“Nah, I’ve got some soup I made.”If a bowl of instant chicken noodle counted as cooking.
His expression closed off, instantly making her feel like shit for pushing him away.But she couldn’t afford to let him in any further.She didn’t want to hurt him, but she also couldn’t risk any more pain when she was still healing from the mistakes she’d made in the past.Because her instincts warned her that he held the power to hurt her even worse than that.
“Ah,” he said.“Okay, well, guess I’ll see you Monday.”
She stopped walking and turned to face him.This wasn’t easy for her.She wished things could be different.Thatshecould be different.But she wasn’t.And they both had to face that.
“Look.I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, I really do.You’ve gone above and beyond, with this whole thing and through everything that happened with Bristol in the summer.I just need to go home and crash.”
“You don’t need to prove anything to anyone.”His tone was fierce, his eyes simmering with some intense emotion she couldn’t define.“I know you’re strong.I know you’re capable.We all do.But you’re also human, and like I said before, you don’t need to do this by yourself.So if you decide at some point that you don’t actually want to be alone, I hope you’ll suck it up, set your pride aside, and just text me.”
She barely stopped herself from hugging him and apologizing for being such an icy bitch.“Okay.I will.”
He raised an auburn eyebrow, clearly skeptical.
She grinned.“I will.”
His eyebrow dropped, his expression turning serious.Except now there was an intimacy in his gaze that she felt at a cellular level.“If you need me, I’ll be there.No questions asked.”
Seriously, how was she supposed to keep her protective walls up when he said things like that?Because she believed him.And his offer meant more to her than he would ever know.“Thank you.”
Apparently satisfied, he nodded once.“See you Monday.”
She got into her car, a hollow feeling forming in the pit of her stomach as she watched him walk to his truck.The thought of going home to her empty house was depressing and a little frightening.She had a long, tough weekend ahead of her, and the loneliness was compounded by knowing it would be three more long days before she saw him again.
Chapter Nine
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Tristan was in hiskitchen making himself a sandwich for an early dinner when he heard a key in the lock on the front door.He paused with the carving knife in hand, waiting to see which sibling it was, since they all had a key and dropped by when they felt like it.
Gavin appeared around the corner a moment later.“Hey.”
He was happy to have the company.He didn’t enjoy having this whole space to himself as much as he’d thought he would.Living alone had gotten old fast soon after Gavin moved out.His twin was easy to have around—when he wasn’t being obnoxious.They were so comfortable in each other’s presence they didn’t even have to talk.
“Hey yourself.”
