Page 96 of Broken Pieces

He looks at the ground avoiding eye contact. “When I made a mistake a few years back and kick myself every day over it.”

“A girl?”

“We are talking about you,” he says.

“This explains the whole Laney thing,” I say as I switch the subject off me.

He lines up a shot and takes it, sinking a ball into the corner pocket. “Like I said, we aren’t talking about it.”

“I just told you what’s goin’ on in my head and my heart.”

Mac looks up from the table and grins at me. “Yeah you did, pansy. Now I have shit to make fun of you for.”

I laugh and take a sip of my beer while Mac takes his next shot, knowing he ain’t gonna tell me shit.

A pair of small hands wrap around me from behind and I pull her around me and into my side. I look down into her sparkling eyes and kiss her softly on the lips.

I need to be honest with her. I need to tell her everything. But I don’t want to lose this. I can’t lose her. It will break us both.

So I do the selfish thing and ignore the thoughts swirling in my head.

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