“No.”
“Then let’s go.” Peering around Korbin, I waved at Nina, watching us as she stirred batter in a mixing bowl. “It was good to see you, Mrs. Butler. Can I steal Korbin for a bit?”
“Oh yes,” said Nina with a chuckle, setting the bowl down and scurrying to hug me again. Nina Butler was a petite woman, but her hugs were bone-crushing. I no longer minded. “You can steal and keep him, if you’d like.”
“Thanks, Ma,” muttered Korbin, and I had to resist the urge to laugh.
“I’ll have him home before midnight, Mrs. Butler.”
Wondering if spending more time than necessary with Korbin was actually a good idea, I followed him out to my car and helped him slide into the passenger’s seat. At this point, I didn’t really care who the company was as long as he was willing to feed me because I was starving suddenly.
“So,” he said as I drove into town to my favorite little Mexican place. He lifted his hands in front of the heater vents to warm them, and the subtle scent of that old, scented soap he always loved hit me. My stomach turned, but not in a bad way. Some memories were still good, even if I had avoided them all these years.
“So,” I repeated.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?” I asked softly, but I was sure I already knew what he was talking about.
“What are you doing?” he said again, trying to catch my gaze as I drove. “What are you doing here, in Eagle River?”
The rain still fell in thick, wet splats against the windshield, and I focused my attention entirely on that instead of him, but I knew I couldn’t get away with not answering. Not for long, anyway. He always knew just how to wear me down, to the point that he was the only person who could break that shell I wore so often during college.
“I’m here for my mom,” I said, though I wasn’t sure how much of this I wanted to crack open and hash out with him. It wasn’t his business anymore, not really. The day he’d walked out on me was the day that anything in my life no longer applied to him and vice versa. “She’s—she could use the company, is all.”
“Susan,” mused Korbin. “Boy, have I missed that woman. Shame I haven’t seen her in so long.”
“I’m sure she misses you, too,” I said with an eye roll. “I’m pretty sure she liked you better than me for a long time.”
Korbin laughed. It was a familiar laugh that I had grown to know and love over the years. I looked at him as he rubbed the stubble on his face and grinned at me charmingly. Seductive. Familiar.
“What can I say? Mothers love me.”
“Mexican okay?” I asked, pulling into the familiar restaurant parking lot. I put the car into park and shut off the engine, realizing that Korbin’s eyes were on me, and he was still smiling.
“Of course, you’d pick here,” he said. “It was your favorite place in college.”
“Still is.”
“But when was the last time you ate here?”
“When?” I pretended to mull this over as rain splashed down on the hood and windows, encasing us in our little private world. “The day you lost your father, we ate lunch here when you got the news. A week later, you took me home and broke up with me after the funeral. That’s when I was here last, Korbin. The day your dad died.”
Silence settled over us then. I could feel Korbin looking at me from the passenger’s seat, but I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze. Even after all this time, I still couldn’t face him.
“I remember,” he said softly. “Because that was the last time I was here, too.” When I didn’t say anything to this, Korbin reached for my hand, brushing his fingers against the front of my palm, and a sharp sizzle of desire crawled up my spine, shocking me. “Peyton,” he said, and I shook my head quickly, yanking my hand away, and reached for the door handle to push the door open.
“I’m ravenous, so I hope you’re hungry too.”
He said nothing to this as I crossed around the car to help him retrieve his crutches from the backseat. It felt weird taking care of Korbin now, especially since he took care of me unconditionally when we were together. He had always been the strong one, the protector. Now the tables had turned, and I still didn’t know how to feel about it, or even if I should feel anything about it at all.
We were quiet as we took shelter from the rain inside, finding a table in the far corner, away from the other patrons.
“A water and Coke for me,” he told the server and then spoke again before I could. “And a strawberry daiquiri for her. Blended.”
“With some water and a lemon,” I added, glaring at him from across the table. Korbin always used to order for me, and only because he always knew just what to order. Once upon a time, it had been endearing, but now it was just annoying.
“Oh, and a nacho appetizer for the table,” he said. The server smiled at him, batting thick eyelashes, red lips pursed as though she was undressing him with her mind. I wanted to reach out and bitch slap her, though I had no idea why. Korbin hadn’t been mine to be possessive over in years, and it wouldn’t start now.
