I’m sorry things got weird in the car.
The next was timestamped an hour later.
Taylor
I’m assuming you’re already in the meeting.
Call me when you can.
The last one was delivered while I was speaking with David.
Taylor
I hate how we left things.
Please call me.
I stared at the screen, my throat tight. Taylor had every reason to be furious with me, andhewas the one apologizing tome?
I typed and deleted four responses before I shoved my phone into my pocket, grabbed my coat, and left the building.
During the half-hour drive, I practiced everything I wanted to say until I thought I could get the words out. By the time I’d figured out precisely how I wanted to approach this conversation, I was pulling into his driveway.
Taylor opened the front door before I’d even made it halfway up the walk. He was barefoot, wearing sweatpants and a faded t-shirt, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest and watching me approach with an expression I couldn’t quite read. Relief, maybe. Wariness, definitely.
“You didn’t call,” he said.
“No.”
“Or text.”
“No.” I stopped at the bottom of his porch steps and looked up at him. “Can I come in? Please.”
His expression softened, and he stepped aside.
The second the door closed behind us, I pulled him into me, pressing my face into his neck, breathing him in. He smelled like soap and clean laundry and the wintergreen muscle rub the trainers frequently used on his back.
His arms came around me slowly, like he wasn’t sure he’d forgiven me yet but couldn’t hold himself back from touching me all the same.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured.
“I know.”
He held me tighter.
We stood there for a long time. When we finally parted, Taylor studied me, his eyes flicking over my face.
“What happened, Seb?”
“I talked to David.”
He swallowed? “About this morning?”
I moved into the living room and lowered myself onto the couch. Taylor followed, sitting sideways to face me, one knee drawn up, his chin resting on it.
“Notjustthis morning," I told him. "Turns out there's been a significant amount of speculation about Wyatt and me going back years. Us being together was basically an open secret in certain circles.”
Taylor’s jaw tightened, a muscle jumping beneath the skin at his temple. His gaze dropped to his hands, and I watched him wrestle with his thoughts, attempting to smooth his expression into something neutral. He didn’t quite get there.
