Page 247 of A Matter of Time

“You know who’s right for you and who isn’t.”

“Sam, you can’t just come back after three years, tell me you’re ready for your life to start, and have me back. It doesn’t work like that. I’m different, you’re different… Just let it go.”

He raised his other hand, cupping my face as he stared down into my eyes. “I can’t. I want you back. I need you.”

I lifted my head out of his hands and stepped away from him. “There’s no way. You almost…” And I was going to confess that he had almost killed me when he left. I had been so devastated at being abandoned. Only Dane, my friends, and work had moved me through all the heartbreak and the loneliness and the grief. I could never go back there and open myself up to that pain again. I was stupid, but I wasn’t a masochist.

“I almost what?” he pressed me, reaching out for my jacket only to have me step just beyond his fingertips. “Tell me.”

“Nothing,” I sighed, trying so hard to smile even though my vision was blurring. “I’ll see you.”

I turned and found I could breathe again as I started down the street.

“J!”

I swung back around to look at him. He was standing there, hands in his pockets, his jaw clenched, just staring at me.

“Can I call you?”

I nodded, because words were beyond me.

“Okay.” He smiled, and I turned away before he could say another word. It took everything I had not to run.

When I was halfway home, my phone rang, and I smiled when I checked the display.

“Hey.” I was happy to hear from him, because I’d thought I never would again. It had been a month of silence that I’d thought was permanent.

“Jory,” he breathed.

“When did you get back?” I asked, keeping it light.

“Couple days ago.”

“How was Hong Kong?” I asked Aaron Sutter. “Did the hotel go up on time?”

“Of course,” he said, nearly indignant. “This is me we’re talking about.”

“Sorry.” I chuckled. “So tell me everything.”

“How about I tell you over a late dinner?”

I hesitated. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“But I…I thought you didn’t wanna see me.”

The cough was barely one. “Listen, I did a lot of thinking while I was away, and I realized that you were right—there’s no reason in the world for us not to be friends. Simply because we want different things shouldn’t make us strangers. We spent nine months together. Why would we just throw all that away? It makes no sense.”

“That was my argument,” I reminded him.

“I know, and I’m sorry for the things I said. I merely… I’ve never asked anyone to live with me before, and I was certain that you would say yes. The no never even entered my thought process.”

I sighed deeply. “I’m sorry too. I wish I could’ve said yes.”

“Well, so you know, there’s not a time limit on the offer.”

“But you said⁠—”