The door opened, then closed, but no sound of approaching footsteps reached him.
One minute passed. Then two. Zane stepped around the counter, expecting to see Tessa leaning against the door.
No Tessa.
His nerves sparked like he’d closed his hand on an electric fence. He ran to the door and yanked it open. Tessa sat in the hallway across from her door. Eyes open but staring at nothing.
He knelt beside her. “Tess?”
No response.
He tried a different approach. “Princess? Talk to me, baby. Why are you in the hall?”
Nothing.
Zane couldn’t make sense of what was going on. Was this some sort of delayed shock? Her breathing rate was normal. Her pulse, which he could see in her neck, wasn’t particularly elevated.
He sat beside her. She didn’t flinch or move away. A minute later, he scooted closer so their arms and legs touched. She didn’t move, but she also didn’t speak.
Was this her version of the silent treatment? He’d never known her to be this way, but maybe? If so, he had to admit it was wildly effective. He was prepared to spill all his darkest secrets if it would get her to talk.
He leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. “If you want me to tell you everything in the hall where we have a full audience of nosy security guards, I will. It would be fair penance for my sins. But I feel I should give you fair warning. I intend to tell you some things tonight that I should have told you a long timeago. And there’s a good possibility that before this night is out, I’m going to kiss you, and I’m going to keep kissing you until I’m convinced you’re okay.”
She didn’t look at him, but she did get to her feet, her movements lithe and graceful. She opened her door, and when he approached, she held up a hand. “I don’t recall saying you could come in.”
He froze. Then took a step back. Then another, until he was pressed against the far wall.
The way she studied him made him feel like a virus under a microscope. Her words, when they finally came, were the last thing he ever wanted to hear.
“I’m not sure if I can let you in again.”
She closed the door.
A moment later, the dead bolt clicked into place.
SHEWAS OVERREACTING.She knew it. Before tonight, she hadn’t cried in months. No, longer than that. The last time she cried was on the anniversary of her dad’s death. She was on a Zoom call with her sister, cousins, mother, and grandparents. They mostly laughed as they remembered, but they also shed some tears.
Zane had made her cry.
She dropped onto a chair in her den. Everything hurt. Her head, her eyes, her throat.
Her heart.
The phone buzzed. She didn’t want to look, but she’d promised she would stay available to the people who loved her. It was Ivy.
Gil tells me you’ve locked Zane out of your apartment. Want to talk about it?
Did she?
No. Thanks though.
Okay. If you change your mind, I’m here.
And while I’m thinking about it, remind me to tell you sometime how one of the ways I knew I could believe Gil loved me was how jealous he was of Ab. You give so few people the power to hurt you, so the fact that he can just proves how much you care.
Tessa stared at her phone and sent another text. This one was not to Ivy.
Why?
