Page 16 of Unbroken

“Nope,” I answered confidently. “All good.”

We were sitting in his office—actually a repurposed corner of the tack room—going over the upcoming trail rides on the books with Eli filling me in on the dates, the quirks of each trail, and the requirements of each group. I had been on my best behavior the whole time, even holding back from making a dad joke when he mentioned the McCracken group.

Eli squinted at me. “What’s gotten into you? Are you plotting something? Are there hidden cameras in here?” He looked around the room suspiciously.

I forced a smile. “No, I’m just trying to be a good trail partner. What’s so weird about that?”

“Nothing. Everything. It’s just not normal for you. Which is why I’m suspicious.”

“Stop.” I swatted the air at him. “I learned my lesson, okay? Our bickering led to the Belle and Diesel mess, and I promised Shannon that it wouldn’t happen again. She and Josh are counting on us to help make the trail riding program a success, and I’m doing my part. I won’t make any trouble when we’re working—I promise.”

He tilted his head and took me in for a moment. “Well, okay, then. Good. So we’re all set here. I need to take care of a little paperwork, then I’ve got some stalls to clean.”

“Do you have a couple more minutes? I want to talk to you about something else. About … us.”

It was stupid that my heartbeat sped up. Our relationship was fake, and we both knew it.

Suspicion crossed his face again. “What aboutus?”

“I think you need to take me to that wedding. It’s tomorrow, right? Charlotte’s going and it would look weird to her if you didn’t take yourgirlfriend.” I made air quotes around the word.

He was already shaking his head before I finished talking. “Nope, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“But why? I love weddings, and I’m a great dancer. I’ll make you look good out on the floor.” Why did I want this so much? Yes, I liked weddings, but this felt like more.

“Fiona.” He said my name in a frustrated sigh. “There’s been enough time for word to spread, which means the wedding will be too much of a public venue for us to have this relationship on display. It would be the first time everyone would see us together and we would be under a microscope the entire time. And Charlotte …” he trailed off and shook his head. “Well, let’s just say she knows a thing or two about interrogation. I’m not ready for that kind of scrutiny.”

“But it makes sense for me to go. And besides, you said you already RSVPed for two, so they’re expecting a couple, not a single. You have the power to destroy the bride’s carefully plotted table setup if you go alone. It’s bad luck for the couple.” I pasted my best please-please-please expression on my face but he wasn’t buying it.

Eli frowned at me.

“Oh, come on,” I cajoled, leaning over to poke him in the arm. “Stop looking so grumpy. We can do this! Idareyou to take me.”

He let out a mirthless laugh.

“No way. I fell for that once,” Eli said, shaking his head. “It’s not going to happen again.”

I felt an intense ripple of regret pass through me. It had been years, but clearly his wound still smarted. It was time to address it head-on.

“Yeah, that was pretty terrible of me, wasn’t it? Making plans to go with you to the prom and then standing you up after daring you to ask me in the first place. I still feel bad about it.” Oddly, I really did.

Eli shrugged. “It was a long time ago. Whatever.”

“No, not ‘whatever,’” I said gently. I’d been too embarrassed to apologize back in high school, so we’d never really had a chance to talk it out. I didn’t know what conclusion he had reached about why I’d behaved the way I had, but it was long past time to set the record straight. “I’m sorry I did that. It was a crappy thing to do to you. The truth is …” I took a deep breath. “The truth is, I sort of had a tiny little crush on you back then. I didn’t even figure it out until I realized how much I liked the idea of us going together. But I was afraid that you were going to turn the whole thing into a massive joke, so I decided to beat you to the punch to avoid getting humiliated.”

It felt awkward admitting it out loud. Surely there was no need to be embarrassed anymore. We’d both lived a lifetime since high school,what with Patrick and the divorce, and the death of my parents and my move to Denver. We were different people now, so there was no issue in finally owning up to a high school crush as adults.

“A crush, huh?” he asked, his face finally relaxing into a smile. “I had no idea.”

“I didn’t either until the day of prom.” I chuckled and tried to push aside my high school emotions threatening to bubble up. “I thought about you picking me up looking all handsome … that’s sort of why I said I’d come getyou, to make it seem less like a date. Then I thought about us dancing together, and what usually comesafterprom …” I broke off as heat rushed to my cheeks—because I’d thought about theaftera lot. “And then I decided that there was no way our prom date was actually meant to be real.”

“I mean,Iwas treating it like it was real,” Eli said with a shrug. “I never would’ve done anything to hurt you on such an important night. I had a corsage for you and everything.” He paused and cleared his throat. “It sure would’ve been an interesting date. Fun, even.”

We shared a moment of reflection, watching one another with a new understanding. It made me feel even worse about what I’d done. The silence stretched on until I couldn’t bear it.

“To be fair, isn’t it just like me, though? Bringing the drama, screwing things up. I mean, you should see my track record with men. It’s like I purposely seek out the combative relationships, where everything is a struggle even though I should know better. I want a relationship like my parents had: Calm and open with no tension, no fights. But somehow, as soon as I start bickering with a guy, I start noticing how attractive he is. It’s like my attraction-meter is broken.” Or I’m trying to find something I’ve lost, but I wasn’t prepared to think about that right now.

“I’m sorry to hear that. But I understand wanting something calm and quiet. My relationship with Charlotte wasn’t the easiest, especially toward the end. Way too much fighting and gaslighting for my liking.”

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