“Don’t tell me that. He’s anasshole who’s breaking Miles’ heart.”
“Sorry.” Fox tapped on theedge of his desk. “You’ve got to admit, though. Damned clever plan.”
“Yeah. That’s the problem.And now Miles has to decide whether to expose him—and thus shut the whole trialdown and kick the kids out of it—or to keep his mouth shut and risk the ruin ofhis family’s company.”
Fox nodded. “Not a choice I’dwant to make,” he said. “But why is your boyfriend mad atyou?”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Isaid, instantly feeling like I was right back in high school. “I might’ve…snapped at him, a little.”
Fox looked at me carefully,which only made me want to crawl under the desk and hide. If there was anyonein my life that I couldn’t stand to look bad in front of, it was Fox. Hebrought out the best in me because I hated to disappoint him.
This wasn’tdisappointment, though. Understanding was pouring off him like water.
“Over this?”
“Over… over everything Ithink. I left him alone when he was scared, and that was definitely a mistake.But he reacted like I’d done it on purpose, and I might’ve… poked a wound.”
“A wound caused by…”
I licked my lips. “His mom left himand his father when he was sick as a kid.”
“Jesus,” Fox said, his eyeswide. “And that’s… you pokedthat?”
“By accident! I left himthat morning to go and put an end to all the crap that was going on once andfor all, and he kept talking about how I left him, and I just… my mouth ranaway with me when I realized he was upset because that’s what his mother did.And by thenIwas upset, so… I wasn’t as kind as I would have liked to be.”
“Right.” Fox nodded, staringat Logan’s empty desk for a moment. “And you apologized, obviously.”
“Uh.”
Fox’s gaze immediately turnedon me, jewel-green eyes sharp. “You apologized,” he repeated slowly. “Obviously.”
I winced at his tone. Maybemy pen was still under the desk. Maybe now was a great time to look for it.
“He kicked me out before Ihad a chance,” I told the floor under my desk, assuming Fox would overhear.
“And of course, your phonehas been lost in a tragic accident, so you couldn’t possibly call or text him.”
“It’s not that simple,” Iargued, glancing over at Fox before going back to looking for the pen that wasprobably living a very happy life wherever it was lost pens lived. “He’s notgoing to listen tosorryright now.”
Fox sighed a deep, dramaticsigh. “It’snot justsayingsorry.You’vegot toapologize. Properlyapologize. Show that you know what you did wrong, that you’re not planningto do it again, and that it’s very worthwhile forgiving you because you’recharming and attractive and you come bearing gifts.”
I looked up at the jar ofcookie butter on the desk. One out of three was a start.
And Iwassorry, andI understood what I’d done wrong, and I really wasn’t planning on doing it again.
The part I was going tostruggle with wasworthwhile forgiving. I wasn’t hideous and I thoughtMiles liked me, but that wasn’t enough, either. It was never going to beenough.
What I needed was somethingtoofferhim, and I’d blown that. The thing I should have been offeringwas safety and security when he needed it most.
Instead, I’d decided to bethe big damn hero. All that’d ended up accomplishing was making things worsefor him.
Miles didn’t need a hero.Not really. He needed someone who’d listen, and put his needs first, and really,genuinely take care of him for once. Much as I liked tothinkthat could havebeen me, I’dproved that at the first opportunity I’d rush off and do something stupid, hadn’tI?
“There’s a lot happening inthat pretty head of yours right now, isn’t there?” Fox asked, right back tosympathetic.
“You think I’m pretty?” Iasked, in an attempt at deflecting that fell flat before I even got the lastword out. There was no running away from this, no matter how much I wanted to.
“He needs time to cool off,”I continued, giving up on my pen rescue mission. Wherever it was, I hoped itwas happy. “I’dneed time to cool off after everything he’s been through.I’m not even mad that he was upset with me, I just… I was trying to help.”
