There, that was the full and god’s honest truth.
The jailbreak had been my little form of rebellion. Even if it was stupid in the end and meant nothing.
“Maybe you would’ve.” The words came spilling out of my mouth before I could stop them.
I didn’t actually believe that. Not in the slightest. My pettiness wasn’t letting me say the things I wanted to and was filling in the blanks for me with nonsense.
He only sighed in response.
My heart felt heavy when he pulled away, leaving me feeling ever more raw and exposed than on the docks.
What was wrong with me?
This man was trying to be nice and figure out what my problem was and here I came barreling in with insults and snippy words.
No wonder he was so quick to leave with his grandfather earlier.
Speaking of which. “Where’s your pops?”
I lifted my head up from the table, cupping the back of my neck to keep the ice pack suctioned there while I turned toward him. He had one foot kicked up on the seat in front of him, the other dangling down by me. He wore a frown that twisted my inside up—an expression that looked way too foreign on his face for it to be a common thing.
I was used to Blake’s cheerful expressions. Even his neutral faces had a lightness to them.
This one was downright upset.
“He got pulled away for a bit. I didn’t have the heart to tell him no when he loves this place so much. I figured in the meantime, I could send over something to help with your head. Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to be tied up with something, so you got to deal with me delivering it.”
‘Got to deal with’. Like that was an actual bad thing when in reality it was the best case scenario. My hand itched to reach over and grab his thigh. Squeeze it until I had him squirming.
Then again, he’d probably shove me away at this point.
“I’m surprised he retired if he loved being here so much.”
Blake shrugged. “He didn’t want to. But he’s getting older and isn’t able to keep up with the demands of this place anymore. It was better to let it go when he still had some health left in him versus having to pry it out of his cold dead hands.”
“Quite the imagery,” I joked.
He shrugged again. “It’s the truth.”
Ugh.
What the fuck was I supposed to do with that?
We were literally two feet apart, physically. Emotionally, there might as well have been a giant chasm opened up, swallowing us both in the process.
I wanted the old Blake back. The one that poked and jabbed at me just as much as I did him. Messing around with him couldn’t have messed things upthisbadly with him. I refused to accept that answer.
Not when it was so,sogood.
His eyes darted away from mine, catching sight of one of the cooks leaving the back in order to start setting up the buffet for dinner. At that, he slid off of the table.
“Hope your head feels better.”
Fuck, I couldn’t handle this.
I grabbed his arm right before he could skirt past me and head out of the mess hall. He froze the second I touched him, his eyes going wide and then snapping over to meet mine. That frown was quickly replaced by surprise.
“Blake... listen.”
