Page 17 of Fall Apart

“I don’t need this shit. Fuck right off,” Clay snarls before he practically jumps out of his chair. Kayleigh tries to grab his arm, but he shakes free and storms across the room. Before I can even try to say something, he slams the door behind him.

I look around the table, painfully aware that everyone is now staring at me with a mix of pained expressions ranging fromWhat’s wrong with youtosorry we should have warned you.

I bury my face in my hands and groan. “You guys mind telling me what the fuck that was? I was just joking. Clearly I don’t know something that I should.”

To my surprise, Kayleigh is the first one to speak up to defend her friend. “Heusedto ski.”She looks at Tanner, almost pleading for him to explain.

“He was better than me. Probably would have been better than Kayleigh.” His voice is nowhere near the, fun playful one I expect from him. Veronica, Collin, and Grace are eerily silent.

“But…”Kayleigh says,wincing and looking away, as if reliving a horrible memory, “he’s had a brutal history of injuries.”

My stomach sinks and I feel like I’m going to throw up. I remember the scars I saw on his knees the other night when he got out of the hot tub. Those horrible, jagged lines that look painful.

His knuckles.

Overcome.

Shit. I really fucking stepped in it.

“It’s not your fault, Lizzy.” Kayleigh’s voice is soft when she looks at me. “I’ll go talk to him.”

And that’s when I hear stomping around in the penthouse above us.

A small smile forms on my face and I look back at her. “I know exactly where he is.”

“It’s fine.You can go talk to him.” Kayleigh walks out of the penthouse construction site door.

“Thanks,” I say quietly, walking past her into the penthouse that’s stripped down to the studs. Even in the winter with below freezingtemperatures outside, it’s still warm. They must be using some kind of job site heaters. I walk through the sprawling condo and see Clay, standing in the corner by the French doors leading out onto the wraparound balcony that overlooks the ski resort. The only lights out on the mountain are from the snowcats out grooming the slopes for tomorrow. He sees me before turning back to looking outside.

“So you finally want to talk to me now? Color me surprised.” His voice is low, with that same sense of playful irritation when he accused me of taking his seat at the bar.

“Clay, I’m sorry. I didn’t -” He turns and faces me, catching me off guard. He looks at me with such intensity I can’t even finish my sentence. What the hell is wrong with me tonight? I’ve been speechless twice in the last hour. That’s a first.

“Donotapologize to me. I don’t want your pity.” His jaw is clenched and I can see the muscles of his tattooed neck straining.

“I didn’t know about your injuries. I would have never said that if I had.” I inch closer to him, not knowing what I’m doing. I want to apologize. I was out of line. Ishouldapologize. But he’s also so damn prickly, like a wounded animal. I don’t want to scare him off, even though the last time we were this close, I was the one that ran.

He looks at me curiously before letting out a short, low laugh. “Maybe if you had stuck around at the bar and told me you recognized me instead of running off, we could have talked and actually gotten to know each other. It’s not like I bite.” He pauses and looks down at his hands, before looking back at me, grinning with a playful wink. “Unless you’re into that, princess.”

My breath hitches just a teeny bit, seeing and hearing that cocky attitude return. The one that I was into before and still would be if he wasn’t such an asshole or about to be my best friend’s brother-in-law. I groan and roll my eyes, pretending to be unfazed by him. “Ah, there he is. I was wondering where cocky ass Clay Chapman was. This storm cloud, emo version of you is pretty lame.” He turns away,letting out another low huff of a laugh and looking back outside. I step up next to him, looking out the other French door to watch the groomers running up and down the slopes.

“Good. Now that you’re laughing…” He turns to face me with an amused, curious look on his face, shaking his head. And that’s when I punch him in the shoulder, which only knocks me back. I huff in frustration before getting what’s been on my mind all night off my chest. “So, who is Kayleigh?”

His brows furrow and the questioning look on his face intensifies. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, is she your girlfriend? Are you two dating? Were you trying to cheat on her with me? I would love to knownowif you’re a douche like my cheating ex.” The words spew out of me. I’m finally releasing some of my pent up anger over Johnathan, and directing it all at him.

The confused expression there seconds ago morphs into something dark. I watch his jaw tense and I swear I can hear his molars grind. The anger in his eyes is nearly palpable. “She is my best friend. My oldest friend.” He grabs the railing of the balcony and his tattooed knuckles are nearly white from clenching it so hard. He looks away from me when he growls, “I’m not some piece of shit. Are we done here?”

The immediate shift in emotion and the intensity of his reaction catch me off guard. It’s like he’s physically pained by what I said.

“Ok. Good.” That’s the only response I can get out, thrown off that I clearly triggered him again. “Hey. I’m sorry about what I said at dinner. I don’t care if you don’t want my apology. Can we please start with a clean slate and just be friends?”

I turn to face him. He’s still staring outside and I try to follow his line of sight, but he’s just staring at an empty spot on the mountain. It’s hard to make out on the dimly lit mountain, but I know it’s the mogul course. The look in his eyes is distant, like he’s dwelling on anold memory. Silhouetted by the dark sky and few lights outside on the other condo buildings, the features of his face are so defined. From the square line of his jaw, to his full lips to the neck tattoos that look like shadows creeping up from the collar of his shirt.

“Start over?” His voice is gruff as he nods his head. “Yeah. We can start over. I can be civil, I guess. We’re going to have to be if we’re going to be in this wedding together.”

A sigh of relief escapes me and I can feel my shoulders relax.

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