A long breath on the other end.“I am home.”
I frown, glancing around the parking lot.“Oh, the lake house or your parents’?”
“No.My place.The penthouse.”
That catches me off guard, because I have never once heard him refer to his place in the city as home.“Ok.”
I try to keep it light.“You sound like you could use company.”
“I don’t know,” he says quietly.“Maybe.”
The unease starts to creep in.“Nate… what’s going on?”
Silence.Then...“Are we together, Tess?”
The question hits like a stone in my chest.
“What?”I laugh a little, trying to deflect the sting of it, turn it around.“I mean, we haven’t hadthe talk, but considering how much time we spend together, I didn’t think you had time to see anyone else.”
He doesn’t laugh, and the quiet that follows isn’t comfortable.It’s thick.Choking.
“Nate,” I say carefully.“What’s happening?”
He sighs, long and hard.“Just… come here.Please.”
And even though every warning bell in my body is going off, I get in my truck and head into the city.
When I step into his penthouse, the air feels… wrong.Nate’s standing by the window, city lights painting him in streaks of blue and gold.His shoulders are tight; his hands shoved deep in his pockets.
He doesn’t turn when I say his name.
“Nate,” I murmur.“You’re scaring me a little.What’s going on?”
He exhales, still not facing me.“I know we didn’t have the conversation, Tessa.But I thought it was obvious.That we were… together.”
It’s not a question.It’s a verdict.An accusation?
“Okay,” I say slowly, confused.“We are...I don't really understand what is going on, Nate.”
He gestures toward the couch without looking.“Then you should probably see those.”
An iPad sits there, screen lit up.I pick it up, expecting… I don’t even know what I’m expecting.But not this.
Photos.
Me, everywhere.
Me laughing with Anders at the lake.
Me dancing with Jensen on Canada Day.
Eli hugging me.
Me talking to Gabe after practice.
Me with Chase and Adam last night, mid-laugh, the three of us in Chase's truck, Adam’s arm around my shoulders.That one steals my breath...how...how did someone get this?
And the last one, the one that twists my stomach into knots, was me hugging Marcus goodbye, not even an hour ago.
