Page 121 of Say It Isn't So

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. I don’t see the appeal to balls flying at my face at forty plus miles an hour. I’ve got to protect all this,” he said and mimed rubbing a palm over his face.

Laughing, I just shook my head. “I meant the talking thing. You suck at baseball.”

Taking me in a chokehold, Noah laughed. “Yeah, well, I don’t want to make a habit of sitting around like chicks and blathering, either. I’m afraid it’ll lead to urges to paint my nails or other things girls do, and I have a rep to protect.”

“Wuss,” I countered, slipping out of his hold and twisting him in it.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Knox

I pulled myfork back when I saw Rina reach across the table and pluck one of my sweet mini peppers stuffed with ricotta from my plate.

“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked, the pepper already halfway to her mouth.

I shook my head. I didn’t mind, but it was definitelythis—this air of being uncomfortable with each other that I did mind.

We tried—er, I tried—again. I planned a dinner date for us at this new Italian restaurant, hoping that maybe if I took her out on a proper date, we’d find our rhythm again. But thirty minutes in and I knew that wasn’t the case.

Noah was right, I didn’t want to admit it. Not because I liked this kind of drama in my life, but because I didn’t want to hurt Rina. I never wanted to hurt anyone. It was the Minnesota boy in me, I supposed you could say. But Rina, she had been my youth, my high school girlfriend, college girlfriend, the one who’d opened doors for me by moving us out here. I had a lot of appreciation and compassion for her.

Looking up from her fettuccine alfredo, my eyes met hers and I knew it was time to end this once and for all.

“Rina,” I started, but was stopped when she said my name at the exact same time. I shook my head and gestured with my hand. “You go, sorry.”

She smiled and looked down for a beat before making eye contact with me again. “Thanks. I just wanted to thank you for tonight. It’s nice.”

I nodded. “It is. The food is great.”The food is great?Okay, well at least I hadn’t lied to her and said I was enjoying her company. Not that I wasn’t, it was just that something was so off between us—like it always was. Everything was stiff, and I didn’t care for it.

Twirling noodles on her fork, she murmured something, then cleared her throat. “You were going to say something?”

I swallowed hard, pushing past the last bite of stuffed pepper that was lodged in my throat. I knew I had to be honest, so why was it so hard? I leaned forward and dropped my voice. “Rina, I’m sorry, but I don’t think this is working between us. I don’t think we’re a good fit anymore.” I paused, waiting for her to absorb the truth in my words and react. I feared it’d take her a minute—this was the same woman who was hell-bent on getting me back, after all.

Instead, I got a sigh. A big, fat sight of relief as she sat back and folded her hands in her lap. “Oh, thank God. I’m so glad you said something. That’s what I was going to say, but couldn’t find the words.”

Funny because she had no problem finding them two years ago. “So you feel it, too?”

She nodded, her eyes practically bugging out of her head. “I hate to admit it, but yes, I think our time has passed. We’re not a good match. Maybe at one time, but no more. I’ve actually been thinking about it a lot and I think that maybe you should be with Bianca. I don’t want to stand in the way of you finding happiness, Knox.” She slipped a lock of red hair behind her ear and smiled at me meekly.

I wasn’t sure what to say. I had been prepared to shock her, but somehow I think she’d just shocked me. “This isn’t about Bianca,” I said, knowing I had to make sure she understood that. “It’s about us. Frankly, you mean too much to me for me to lead you on and that’s what I feel I’d be doing if we kept this up.” As I said that last part, I felt like an eighteen-wheeler was lifted from my chest.

Finally leaning forward to eat again, Rina nodded and took a forkful to her mouth.

“So we’re good?”

Chewing a mouthful of food, she nodded again. “We’re great. Sorry, but this dish tastes so much better now. I’ve been a little sick over this. Mostly because I felt so stupid, fighting for something that clearly was all wrong.”

Decidedly relaxed about the whole thing, I also sat forward and took a forkful. “So will you be sticking around?”

Shrugging, she looked up at me. “I have no idea. Probably not. I suppose there’s no real reason to. I have work to get back to in Spain. That’s where I’m still living, you know.”

I nodded. She’d told me. “I can only imagine how much you have to do after that debut.”

Swallowing, she wiped her lips with her napkin. “So much, but I did make plans for later this year with my mother here in New York. We bought tickets to a Broadway musical she wants to see, so I’ll probably be back.”

“In all these years, have you ever come back?” I asked, having to know if she ever did and just didn’t look me up.

But she shook her head and frowned. “No. I never came back to the States. My parents rented a place near me in Spain for a while and they always came out to me. This was my first trip back. For you.”

---