Page 64 of One Room Vacancy
I let out a dry laugh. “It was never just a friendship.”
Wes raises a brow. “So what is it now?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
But that’s a lie. Idoknow; I just don’t want to say it out loud, because then it’s real.
Wes lets the silence stretch before he says, “Savannah said he’s been different since moving in. I didn’t think much of it, thought maybe he was just mellowing out now that he stopped getting back with Kara.”
“He’s been different,” I admit. “But so have I.”
Wes stares at me for a second, then leans on the counter. “Is that a good thing?”
I hesitate. “Yeah. It was.”
“What happened?”
“I told him to leave.”
His eyebrows shoot up.
“I didn’t mean it,” I rush to add. “It was in the middle of a fight. I was spiraling. But he left. And now I don’t know if he’s coming back.”
Wes is quiet for a second, then says, “You love him?”
I let out a breath. “Yeah.”
“Okay,” he says simply, like it’s not the biggest thing in the world. “Then fix it.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“Because I said things I can’t take back. Because I made him feel like he was just…a mistake I kept making. And because—” I pause, pressing the heel of my palm to my chest. “Because I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“That if I ask him to stay, he won’t.”
Wes doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then, softly, “Maybe he just needs a reason to.”
I nod slowly, swallowing around the lump in my throat.
“And,” he says, nudging my elbow, “I’m guessing this fight wasn’t just about him.”
I manage a weak smile. “No. Harry’s selling the bar.”
His brow furrows again. “Since when?”
“He has the paperwork. He doesn’t seem particularly excited about it, but he’s not backing out.”
Wes exhales. “Damn.”
“Yeah.”
I tuck my legs up onto the bottom bar of the stool next to me, cradling the coffee Savannah made like it might steady me. “He told me I should buy it.”
Wes blinks. “What?”
