“Why?”
“Seriously?”
I met his eyes again. “Okay. Fine.”
“Tate,” he breathed out.
“What, Flash? What does this solve? Even if you didn’t sleep with Madison, it changes nothing.”
“I miss my friend, Tate. I miss... us.”
“There is no us.”
He leaned in. “It. Never. Happened.”
“Flash—”
“Never.” He stepped closer. “Ever.” Closer again. “Never.”
I stepped back but he followed. “What are you doing?”
“Hopefully, making you understand it never happened.”
I bit my lip. “But if it never happened, then I’ve been planning your murder for no reason.”
Flash dropped his head back and laughed. “Jesus, woman, you’re funny.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not joking.”
His smile softened and he slid his hand to my cheek. “If you’d said something back then, we could have avoided all of this.”
“Itried,” I growled.
He sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry I didn’t figure it out, Tater. I was an idiot.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I whispered.
“Why doesn’t it matter?”
“Because the damage is done.”
“Is it?” He stroked my pulse.
I let out a frustrated grunt. “It’s not like you did anything wrong, Flash.”
“And yet...”
“And yet...?”
“You’re hurt,” he deduced.
“Yeah. It’s irrational,” I breathed out.
“Not irrational,” he said, then frowned. “But you didn’t tell me you were in love with me, Tate and that’s totally uncool.”
“I’m not in love with you,” I lied.
“Well, that sucks.”
