So he nodded—and prayed.
“How is it possible that a guy as good-looking, sweet, and single as you hasn’t gotten seriously involved with anyone yet?” Triana asked.
Remy felt his fingertips start to tingle, as if another shift was coming on. He forced himself to calm down as he tried to laugh off the question, not sure how to even begin to answer it.
“I guess I just haven’t met the right person yet,” he said.
Triana’s gaze darted to him. Suddenly, he realized he’d left a lot of room for interpretation with that lame-ass answer. Shit. What if she assumed he was implying she was the right person? Which he supposed she was…just at the wrong time.
But Triana didn’t bite one way or the other. “I think you’re avoiding the question,” she said. “Are you honestly telling me that with all of your teammates finding love in the most unusual of circumstances, you’ve never found anyone you thought might be the right person for you?”
Remy swallowed hard. He couldn’t help thinking about what he’d had with Jess, but that wasn’t anything he wanted to get into. He had wanted to talk to Triana about their relationship, though—or at least the relationship they couldn’t have. Now was as good a time as any to do it.
“There was someone,” he finally admitted quietly. “But that was a long time ago.”
Triana looked stunned. “Did you love her?”
He nodded, unable to say the words.
On the other side of the table, Triana looked ashen. “What happened? Why didn’t it work out?”
Damn, he didn’t want to get into this. “It’s something I’d really rather not talk about.”
“Why not?”
Remy gripped the edge of the table, afraid if he didn’t, he might shift at any moment. On the other side of the table, Triana regarded him curiously, and he knew he couldn’t leave her hanging. He’d wanted her to understand there couldn’t be anything between them, hadn’t he? It was time to man up and say what needed to be said.
“It didn’t work out, okay?” he said, his voice sharper than he intended. “It ended badly, and since then, I haven’t been able to find anyone who could convince me to try again.”
He cringed as he realized how harsh his words had been. That was nothing compared to how shitty he felt when he saw the pain in Triana’s eyes. But what else could he have said? It was the truth. He didn’t have it in him to open his heart up again, to get hurt again. Wasn’t it better for Triana to know that now, instead of waiting until later when it would be even harder for her to take?
“So, there’s no…” Voice trailing off, she looked down at her half-empty plate, blinking her eyes rapidly.
“No,” he said softly. “There isn’t.”
Triana shook her head, then pushed back her chair and made a beeline for the door. Remy hastily tossed money on the table, running out of the restaurant to catch up to her. By the time he did, she was halfway to his car, oblivious to the rain soaking her pretty dress. He got the umbrella up and over her, but she didn’t seem to notice that either. At least he could lie and tell himself the wetness he saw on her face was the rain.
As he got her in the car and walked around to the driver’s side, he thought he might actually throw up.
The drive back into the city was long and painfully quiet, except for the constant thump-thump of the windshield wipers and the splash of the tires on the wet road. Remy tried to convince himself he’d done the right thing, but damn, if that was the case, why the hell did it hurt so much to see Triana simply shut down like she had? It was like someone had turned off a light bulb, leaving everything in darkness.
Chapter 12
Triana was reeling.
Remy might not have said the words, but in every way that mattered, he’d broken up with her. The fears that had been building in her heart since the night before had turned out to be true, and now it felt like something inside her was dying.
She didn’t remember the drive back across the lake bridge, barely even noticed the rain drumming on the roof of Remy’s car as they headed into the city. Heck, she didn’t even realize they’d made it back to her mother’s shop until Remy came around to help her out of the car and walk her to the door. At least it wasn’t raining by then.
She looked down in confusion and saw that Remy was holding her hand. If they were over, she didn’t need him walking her to the door or holding her hand. She started to pull her hand away when Remy stopped suddenly, his posture rigid and tense.
“Stay here,” he said.
She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, but he was already running the last dozen feet toward the door of the shop so fast he was practically a blur. She was going to tell him the door would be locked, but she didn’t get a chance as he jerked it open and disappeared inside. A moment later, she heard the sound of glass breaking.
Triana’s heart lurched.
