“I’m sorry, what?”
His kind eyes softened. “I said, we’re here.”
Looking through the windshield, she realized they were parked in front of her apartment building.
“Oh.” Mac gave him a chagrined smile. She felt badly for having zoned out the entire way here. “Sorry.”
Using what she’d always thought of as his big-brother tone, Trevor said, “Look, Mac. Whatever went down between you and Coop is none of my business. But if you want to talk about it, I’m a pretty good listener.” One side of his lips curled upward. “At least, Lexi says I am.”
“Thanks, Trev.” Mac forced a smile. “But I’m pretty sure I messed things up for good with him this time.”
“How do you know?”
Because he changed his mind about wanting to marry me.
She took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. He’s leaving for Chicago on Monday, and apparently Olivia’s brother is going to be my new partner now.”
“That’s only until Coop gets back. It’s a temporary change. One Jake thought would help ease Mike back into the operative life. Don’t worry, though. Bradshaw’s solid. He just needed some time to adjust to being himself again, and not the cover he spent years portraying.”
Mike Bradshaw had been on the same Delta Force team as Jake and Trevor, back in the day. Until he was pulled for a major, deep-cover job that ended up lasting ten years.
“I know. I don’t have an issue with Mike.” She’d met the man a while back. He seemed like an all right guy.
“So what’s the problem?”
Remember, you’re trying to open up to your friends more.
“I’m not sure Coop will still want to be my partner when he gets back.” Mac sat back against the seat and sighed. “I’m not sure of anything anymore.”
“I know that feeling, Mac. Second-guessing yourself. Replaying every single decision you’ve made, wondering how you could’ve done things better. Wishing you could turn back the clock and make different choices.”
She met his dark eyes. “You’re talking about the Delta op you were in charge of that went south.”
“I made a decision and people lost their lives.”
“But you didn’t have another choice, Trev.”
“Neither did you.” He gave her his big brother look. “Not where running away and building a new life were concerned. Not in my eyes or Jake’s. As for Coop, I thought he’d already forgiven you for keeping your past a secret from him.”
“He has.”
“So try to forgive yourself.”
Mac stared out the passenger window to keep her friend from seeing her welled tears. “I’ve made so many mistakes, Trevor.”
Too many.
“You were barely sixteen years old, Mac. You can’t blame yourself for making an impulsive decision when you were still a child.”
“That impulsive decision put Coop’s life in danger.” She swiped angrily at the tears and faced him again. “That’s not even the issue anymore, anyway.”
“So what is?”
With a nervous lick of her lips, she looked over at her friend. “It’s…complicated.”
Trevor smirked. “I’m a pretty smart guy.”
She couldn’t tell him about Coop’s proposal. Not because she didn’t want to open herself up to him. Okay, well that wasn’t theonlyreason.
