Page 83 of Clashing
I did. Not enough to stay away, but he didn’t need to know that.
“You got hurt.” Danny nodded to my bandaged arm. A stab wound I let happen because I couldn’t beat the shit out of myself for hurting Scarlett, so I had to get creative.
“Barely a scratch.”Sort of.
All right, it required stitches and hit a nerve, but it wasn’t the end of the world.
Danny made small talk, and I responded to the best of my ability. Thankfully, he laughed off my disinterest as not having a drink to make me talkative.
Whatever show played on the TV sucked Danny in, and I wandered to the kitchen and checked the sink. Nothing complicated but definitely something he couldn’t do in a wheelchair.
A few minutes of tightening loose pipes did the trick. I wiped my hands on my jeans and tried the faucet, letting it run for a minute to make sure it didn’t leak. Truth was, all his shit was old and needed replacing but he was stubborn as fuck.
Satisfied it was the best I’d get it, I turned off the water, spun to put my tools away, and froze. Scarlett stood in the doorway, gorgeous as ever in skinny jeans and a top that accentuated her hourglass figure.
Our gazes collided, shattering what remained of my heart. I didn’t like the way we looked at each other. Like strangers. I closed the toolbox and tore my gaze away from her as I strode past her for the door.
“Ryker, wait.”
Her hand landed on my arm and the simple contact from her soft, warm skin reminded me what I’d missed the last two weeks. Electricity coursed through my veins and made me more alive than I wanted to be. Normally I loved the way she brought me to life but now, I preferred numbness. It was the only way I could handle the chasm between us. I faced her, swallowing hard.
Her hand fell away, leaving a cold void behind. “I’m sorry.” Her pretty lips pulled down. “For yelling at you. It wasn’t fair to yell and not let you talk. I’m really sorry.”
That, I wasn’t expecting.
“You’resorry?”
“Yeah.” She curled her arms around herself. “The yelling, the being pissed at you for Nat, it wasn’t fair. I just . . .” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry, Ryker. It wasn’t fair to treat you like that. We made an agreement, and I lost my cool. I told you I’d be normal, and I wasn’t. I have a lot on my plate and—look, you can’t kiss me anymore.” Her expression stomped on the remains of my heart. Decided and firm, like there was no chance she’d change her mind. “You can’t. Thank you for the apology, but you need to respect my boundaries. Which means you don’t kiss me whenever you feel like it and you don’t tell me what to do or wear or who to see or anything because it’s not okay. I’m my own person.” She gestured to herself. “Do you understand?”
“Yes.” I forced myself to hold her gaze even though shame compelled me to break eye contact. Nothing she said was unreasonable, but there were a lot of unreasonable things I’d done. “I do.”
She sucked in a shaky breath. “I know you haven’t come to the bar because of me, and I don’t want it to be that way. Please come back. It’s not the same without you. Dan misses you and I miss seeing you. I know there can be nothing between us anymore but don’t stop coming because of me.”
I gaped at her for far too long. Words failed me. I didn’t expect her to apologize. Another reason she was way too good for me.
“I’m sorry too, Scarlett. I wasn’t so great to you myself.”Understatement.“You deserved much better than how I handled things. I want you to know I know that.”
“Thanks.” She averted her eyes. “I don’t want you to be gone from my life, Ryker. I don’t want you to be gone from Dan’s life. How can I get us to be friends?” Desperation filled her tone, and it broke me.
I didn’t want her out of my life, either. I couldn’t do friends. Or, I thought I couldn’t. But that hopeful glint in her eyes told me pretend friends would have to do. Because I’d fucked up and I owed hersomething.
“You don’t have to do anything.” I offered my hand. “Friends it is.”
She almost smiled. “Really?”
No. I’ll always want you much more than that.“Really.”
She shook my hand and thankfully took hers back quickly. I couldn’t handle the physical contact for long. Not with her. Her eyes dropped to the bandage on my arm and a concerned frown pulled on her lips. “Did you get hurt?”
“It was nothing.”
She bit her lip and nodded. I had a hate-love relationship with her lip-biting habit. Right now, I hated it because I couldn’t do anything about it. We stood in awkward silence until her phone rang. She pulled it out of her back pocket and silenced it before speaking. “Well, I gotta go.” She clasped her hands together. “I’ll see you, right?”
I can’t fucking breathe.“Yeah, you’ll see me.”
“Okay.” She darted her eyes around nervously, meeting my gaze only briefly. “Later then.”
She gave a small wave and walked out the door, taking my sanity with her.
