Her mouth twitched. “That was almost word for word.”
“I know you, and that’s a burden.”
“Aura, please.”
I reached for the ranch cups and rearranged them on my tray because Bliss begging was my least favorite kind of warfare. She didn’t do it dramatically. She did it with those big brown eyes and that quiet faith that people could be better if someone loved them loudly enough.
“I’m not asking you to wear his jersey,” she said. “I’m not asking you to forgive him for being cold, and I’m not asking you to let him act like an asshole just because he’s hurt. I’m asking you to come support the team. Support Cade. Support Briggs and Rider. Sit with us. You can support the rest of the Fury even if you and Easton are still…”
She stopped, which was smarter than finishing that sentence.
I lifted my brows. “Still what?”
“I don’t have words for what you and Easton are.”
“That’s new for you.”
“Ay.”
“I support Easton,” I said, and the honesty came out before I could make it prettier. Bliss went still, and that pissed me off almost as much as it hurt. “I do. I know he hates me now, and I earned some of that. I know I hurt him and what I said that night was cruel, and an apology doesn’t pull a knife out. I asked to talk, and I said I was sorry. I tried, B. I will be damned before I spend the rest of my life begging a man to hear me when he’s already decided that version of me is the only one that counts.”
Bliss’s expression cracked. “You still love him.”
I picked up a stack of napkins and shoved them into my apron pocket with more force than paper products deserved. “That is pointless.”
“That sounds like a yes.”
“That sounds like you’re about to lose straw privileges.”
She leaned against the counter, studying me like I was one of her college assignments and she had chosen emotional damage as the thesis. “Charm would say you’re deflecting.”
“Charm would say it in a softer voice and make me feel guilty with her eyelashes.”
“Charm would also be right.”
“Charm is right too often. That’s why we love her and avoid depth when she is around.”
Bliss smiled, but it didn’t erase the concern from her face.
The truth was, I would have given almost anything to go back to that night and do it differently. I would have stayed in his bed and looked Easton in the eye. I would have told him I felt the same, that wanting things had made me stupid once before, but he did not deserve to pay for Darian’s mistakes. I would have told him I loved him when he spoke those same words to me.
Wishes were useless little parasites that fed on the past and gave nothing back.
The reality was simple. Easton told me he would detach, and then he did it so completely that some days I wondered if I had imagined the guy who used to look at me like I was the only thing in the room worth touching.
The ticket printer shrieked, and Bliss slapped a hand over it like it had personally offended her. “I hate this machine.”
“That machine is the only one here honest about wanting to ruin us.”
“You need to come Friday.”
“I need to take this pitcher to table twelve before one of those men decides to turn on me.”
Bliss grabbed the tray before I could lift it. “Promise me you’ll think about it.”
“I will think about how emotionally manipulative you are.”
“That counts.”
