“He’s still holding a grudge then?”
“Yep.” Nick had never met Rys when we’d lived in Cornwall. I’d suspected what Rys was early on, but by then I was too caught up in him to end it like I should’ve done. I didn’t want to introduce him to Nick, because I knew he’d tell me what I didn’t want to hear.
But he knew all about the aftermath.
About what I’d done.
How it had broken me to the point I no longer cared if Tombs found out.
“What about you?” Nick asked, hands twitching like he wanted to reach over the table and grab mine. “How do you feel abouthim?”
I sighed, wondering where to start. “I know I lied to him, and it was a huge one, but I was nineteen and in love for the first time. I know it’s not an excuse, but I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly. I apologised, again. He didn’t want to hear it now any more than he did then.” I shrugged a shoulder, feeling like I’d been doing that a lot lately, but I had no answers. “I can’t force him to forgive me, and I can accept that he doesn’t want to. But is it too much to ask to be fucking civil?”
My hands had curled into fists, my heart raced, and I probably had flushed cheeks, judging from how hot I suddenly felt.
“So, you still have feelings for him, then.”
“No. Definitely not.”
“I might not have seen you in a while, but I can still read you like a book, Mase.” He stood.
“Where are you going?” Surely I hadn’t scared him off already with my outburst?
“To get us a drink.” He grinned. “I’m thinking we might need alcohol for this chat.”
“Probably.”
I gave him my order and settled back in my seat while he went to the bar. My phone chimed with a text a few seconds later.
Max: Just had Rys on the phone wanting to know why you were meeting with the bartender from Midnight.
Anger bubbled inside me.
Mase: I hope you told him it was none of his fucking business.
Mase: And Nick’s the Assistant Manager.
Not that it mattered what his job title was, but I could almost hear the derision in Rys’s tone.
I tapped my fingers on the table while I waited for Max’s reply.
Max: I told him that as you were off the clock and this was a purely personal matter, I had nothing to say about it.
Mase: And what did he say to that?
Max: He huffed a lot. Then asked that if we were still looking into Axel in regard to Callum’s case, then he’d appreciate a head’s up.
Because Axel sometimes tended bar at Midnight. And Nick was effectively his boss.
I wrinkled my nose, irritated because that actually sounded like a reasonable excuse for calling Max. I rolled my eyes, mainly at myself. Of course it was nothing to do with me meeting someone for a drink.
Had I actually thought he was jealous?
I scrubbed both hands over my face, suddenly embarrassed because, yes. For a moment there I had.
Max: Anyway, I thought I’d give you a heads up in case you run into him again, or he contacts you.
Unlikely.
