“Don’t,” I hiss. “Just don’t.”
“Okay, I can see you’re tense. And you can act out when you’re mad.” My temper flares once again. “Let’s just go so you can calm down.”
I hate the way he talks to me when I’m angry. It’s why I stopped letting him see me mad. But I just had a fight withNate,of all people. I’m not in my right mind.
It’s not like Nate and me to not be on the same page. And I don’t understand why he was so upset by me simply talking to Rob.
Rob shoves the bear in my arms, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Here you go, babe.”
“Please don’t call me that,” I say. “And I can’t hold this and my?—”
“I’ve got your bag. Let’s go.”
My jaw tightens as I follow him. I’m all kinds of unnerved, and I throw the bear into the back seat the second we get to his car.
“Whoa, don’t be so rough with your new buddy.”
I glare. “I didn’t ask for a new buddy.”
“You’re playing hard to get still?” He sighs. “Fine. I can be stubborn.”
“I don’t want you to be stubborn,” I say as I get into the passenger’s seat.
“You say that, but I know you.”
“I don’t think you do.”
Rob’s smile falls for all of one second before he starts the car. “I’m working on it.”
“You don’t have to. Seriously, Rob. Just let it go.”
“No.” He’s serious and I want to bang my head against a wall. “What we have is good, Maisie.”
“We barelytalk.” I shake my head. “What kind of relationship is that?”
“We talk.” He laughs. “Of course we talk.”
“Then how do I take my coffee in the morning? What time do I usually get up?”
He blinks. “What is this? A quiz?”
“My point still stands.”
“Listen, I’m here. I got you a very expensive stuffed animal that I can’t return, and I’m not even saying anything about who you took on that cruise. I’m doing all I can here, Maisie.”
“Doing all you can?” I repeat. “This is your best?”
“No one is going to compare to yourperfectbest friend, Maisie. Although, maybe he isn’t so perfect now. He’s mad at you, isn’t he?”
His words hit me right where he means for them to. Just thinking about how Nate and I left things makes my chest hurt. “He didn’t want me to talk to you.”
“Of course he didn’t. He knows I’m going to win you back.”
“I’m not aprize. You can’t just win me.”
“Is that not what I’ve done the last decade?”
My jaw drops and I go to argue, but I remember the video Nate showed me. When he talked about marrying me, he mentioned he thought he was winning then too.
