Page 50 of Austen, Edited

Taking a few steps toward her, he said, “I get that. I need to talk to her.”

For the first time since he walked in, she looked at him, her eyes judging him, for what he didn’t know.

“Now you want to talk to her? After basically repeating what you did to her when you were dating Hannah?”

“What do you mean?” He’d ignored a couple of texts, but it wasn’t like he’d said anything wrong.

“You’ve got to be kidding, right? You didn’t answer any of her calls or texts for several days. Didn’t you realize that would trigger some of the things she went through when you dated Hannah?” Tiffany’s voice had risen in volume, and Greyson glanced around the office, hoping no one else was in the building at the moment.

“I was just working through some things. When I stopped by your dorm a few days ago, she was getting into the car with a guy I can’t stand.”

Tiffany nodded, her eyebrows raised to her hairline. “Yeah, the scumbag, Jeff Summers. Her uncle basically told her she had to go on a couple of dates with him or he wouldn’t pay her tuition this year. She figured it wouldn’t be that awful, but he’s kind of a jerk.”

“Not kind of. He definitely is a jerk.” Greyson’s mind whirred as all the information went through his brain. “So, she doesn’t like him, right?”

Tiffany rolled her eyes and let her head drop back onto the top of her seat. “No, duh. She likes you. She’salwaysliked you.”

Greyson opened his mouth to respond, but her emphasis on always made him pause. Always. Had she liked him even while he was dating Hannah?

“Where is she now?”

“She went to see her mother.” Again the tone was flat, and he knew things weren’t good. He’d told Abby he would go with her to see her mom. Had that been what she’d wanted to talk to him about? And he’d been the idiot to not even try to reach out because of his pride?

He clapped his hands once and said, “Thank you,” before turning and running out the door. He waved down a cab that was passing, giving him directions to the neighborhood where he thought Abby had grown up. He’d been there once or twice, usually as a friend to help Abby pick up whatever she needed or to drop something off to her grandmother. But that had been several years before, and he hoped he could remember the house.

As the cab slowed down because of traffic, Greyson’s stomach tightened even more. He just hoped he wasn’t too late and that she’d be okay.

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