“Huh.” She looked at me for a moment, really looked at me. “Then why do you look like someone just took it away from you?”
I swallowed hard.
Quinn shrugged and took another bite of her ice cream. “Just wondering.”
Summit nudged my leg, whining softly like he was wondering, too.
Thankfully, the conversation shifted to much safer topics,and when Quinn finished the last bites of her ice cream, she gave me a hug, thanked me, and took off toward the bookstore, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I stayed where I was for a few minutes, taking my time finishing my own cone. The plaza hummed around me. Doors opening, voices carrying, laughter from someone I couldn’t see, a baby crying under the gazebo.
I watched a couple cross the plaza hand in hand, barely noticing anyone else around them.
That was the thing, wasn’t it?
You didn’t notice when it happened.
You just looked up one day and realized someone had taken up space where there hadn’t been any before.
I thought of Jess—her laugh, the way she’d fit against me like she belonged there, the look in her eyes when she finally let herself stop running.
This wasn’t lust.
It wasn’t convenience.
And it sure as hell wasn’t a one-night mistake.
I swallowed hard.
Yeah.
This was a problem.
Jess
“Come in,” I called out, but Trevor was already walking in.
“Jess! What the?—”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Thank you for asking.” I leaned back into the couch.
His face softened for a fraction of a second. “I’m glad to hear it.” He blew out a breath. “I was worried.”
“Were you?” I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling theneed to defend myself in some way. “Or were you worried about how it looked?”
He crossed the floor toward me, but didn’t sit. Instead, he paced across the living room. “Did you think about that for one second? About how I had to explain to all our guests why you ran off from our wedding? About what it would mean for?—”
“The development,” I finished for him. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”
He dropped his arms to his side and gave me an exasperated look. “You know it is, Jess. That wasn’t a secret. We talked about this.”
“Did we?”
I was being argumentative, but I couldn’t bring myself to be anything but.
“You disappeared on our wedding day,” he said. “You don’t get to be casual about that.”
“I’m not,” I replied. “I’m being calm.”
