“The squirrels.”
“Okay. I am going to need to see pictures of the squirrels sitting there.”
Perish wiped his hands on his jeans before reaching for his phone and handing it to me.
“Got a whole folder,” he explained as I started to swipe through them.
“It’s like a timelapse of this one actively getting fatter.”
“He has trouble squeezing through the fence now. Usually just runs out the gate.”
“Is this his little squirrel wife?” I asked.
“Think so. They chase each other around like they’re flirting.”
“That’s so cute.”
“Thinking about having Cain make ‘em a squirrel box so they’ve got somewhere safe to be. What?” he asked, making me realize I was watching him with a smile on my lips.
“It’s really sweet how much you care about the animals around here.”
“Tell your cousins that,” he said, taking his phone back, careful not to brush my fingers.
“Do they make fun of your old man hobbies?” I asked, making him chuckle.
“Something like that.”
“Well, don’t listen to them. It’s nice. Well, uh, I’ll let you get back to the cleaning. Thanks for, um, being our guard last night. I’m sorry we, uh, interrupted your night. I, um—”
Needed to stop rambling.
And feeling awkward around him.
We were both adults.
I didn’t have to feel weird about what happened.
“Gracie,” he said, his voice impossibly soft for such a big man. Suddenly, I wanted to hear him say it just that way forever. “It’s okay.”
“Like, I know I didn’t… that I did, but that you didn’t…”
“For fuck’s sake, don’t finish that sentence,” he cut me off. “What has happened was what we wanted to happen. That’s it. Don’t overthink it.”
“But I should—”
“Stay away from a fuck like me,” he interrupted again. “I’m no good for you, baby. That’s why there are rules.”
My shoulders slumped.
My heart did something similar.
“Right,” I agreed, my voice tight. “Well, see you around,” I said.
Then I turned on my heel and walked to my car with stupid, useless tears slipping from the corners of my eyes.
He hadn’t rejected me, not really. But he’d made it pretty clear that we were done with… all that.
It shouldn’t have hurt.
