Page 4 of His North Star
I stiffened, jolted by his words. Why would talking about Ty and Lys breaking up be pointless? “Wait,” I said, whipping my head up to meet his gaze. “Did you break up with her?”
He sighed. “No. Lys and I are. . .” He shrugged. “Fine.” He refused to meet my gaze.
I raised my brows. Wow, so convincing.Not.
If he didn’t want to open up about how good or bad things were, that was a-okay by me. Alyssa and I were friends, but we never spoke about her relationship with Ty, and vice versa. His last girlfriend broke up with Ty because she thought he and I were discussing their relationship behind her back. We weren’t. In fact, since college, he’d stopped saying anything about his girlfriends until they became exes.
“Right. . .” I drew the word out.
He shifted on the couch, making room for me. “I didn’t come here so you could psychoanalyze me. I’m here for you.”
I plopped down next to him. “I’m going to be okay,” I said, not sure if it was to reassure him or myself. “I’ve been listening to podcasts, journaling, and reading a lot about healing. I’ll get there, okay?”
The pain in my hearthaddulled in the last three months. I could take a full breath again. But then random things like a certain smell or item that reminded me of Blake would pop up, and the torment resurfaced, quick and hot, like a flame igniting. Tonight’s task certainly didn’t help.
“I know.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I’m sorry I worry so much.” The intensity of his words matched his eyes. Warmth spread from my head to my toes. “I just want you to be happy.”
“I appreciate how much you care for me. Really, I do. But maybe ease up a little.” I held up my thumb and finger, a thin space between them.
He smiled. My lips drew upward in response as a lightness expanded across my torso. His smile had a way of doing that to me.
“I’ll try.” He nodded once.
“As much as I want to stay up talking, I really should get to bed.”
“Yeah, I have a showing at eight-thirty, anyway.”
He stood and reached his hand out, pulling me to my feet. Once standing, I said, “Thanks for dessert. Even though I won’t go out with the guy you want.”
He waved my comment away. “Seeing you is enough.”
“Good night. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
He walked to the door, keeping one hand on the doorknob. “No need.” His eyes sparkled. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”
I picked up a throw pillow, tossing it at his retreating back. “Don’t you dare!” It hit the
door right after he slammed it.
Too bad for Ty I wouldn’t be around when he came to pick me up tomorrow night. He may think I was ready for another relationship, but he was so, so wrong.
CHAPTER 2
The car’s brakes screeched to a stop as my date parked in front of the bed-and-breakfast’s garage. He turned to me in the front seat of his stinky, economy-sized car. “Should I walk you up to your apartment?”
My fingers, that I’d tucked into the front pouch of my sweater, tightened into fists. “Nope. Right here is fine. Thanks for buying dinner,” I said through gritted teeth. I opened the passenger door, and my date’s body odor slammed into me as his arm reached out to grip my shoulder. My nostrils flared at the stench. I cringed to the right, halfway out the door, forcing his hand to drop away.
“Would you like to go out again?”
No! Not with him. Not with whatever loser Ty or Mom found next. Not with anyone. “I just came out of a relationship, and I’m not ready for anything serious right now.”
A slimy smile curled his lips upward. “I don’t mind keeping things casual. We can hook up when you want and not worry about commitment.”
I barely hid my gag. “No, thanks. Good night.” I didn’t wait for him to say anything else. I jumped out of his beat-up VW Bug and slammed the rusty door. Striding to the stairs, I took them two at a time. My hands shook in anger as I unlocked my apartment door.
Usually being right left me heady, like I was queen of the mountain. Not this time. Being right could shove it. I threw my purse down on my entry table, kicked my shoes off with a little too much force, then stomped to my room to take off my worn jeans and hoodie—the outfit I was wearing when Ty found me at the dock and dragged me out with that disgusting man. Ty and Lys had stayed for dinner, but Jerry so helpfully volunteered to drive me home. He took the long route, and my head pounded with every nasty minute I was forced to breathe in his horrid body odor and car that reeked like old takeout and sweat.
I showered, needing to get the grime of his scent out of my hair. After shimmying my yoga pants past my hips, I threw my long hair up into a messy bun, not bothering to look in the mirror. I stormed into the kitchen, grabbing a bowl full of pie and ice cream from the previous night, then settled in my bed. Blake’s voice taunted me.“You’ll have to run five miles to burn that off.”I shook my head, forcing his words out of my mind.
