Page 20 of Don't Remind Me
“It doesn’t matter. There’s still no taking it back.” She turned to her laptop and mumbled, “Among other things.”
I studied her for a long moment as she willfully ignored me. Then I uncrossed my arms and braced my hands on the counter behind me. “So what happened between you and my brother, anyway?”
Her head whipped up so fast she nearly fell out of her seat. “What?”
I gave a casual shrug. “Why’d you break up? It seems like you two would have been good together.”
The words burned my tongue, mostly because they were true. Icouldsee them together, taking on the corporate world, living the power couple dream. It was never a dream I’d had for myself, never one I’d even thought about until recently. Even in those passing thoughts, I knew it wasn’t right for me.
Not the way Alec lived it, at least.
She rolled her shoulders and returned her gaze to her screen. “I don’t see how that matters.”
“That’s what you were talking about, right? A mistake that couldn’t be fixed? I mean, I just assumed, seeing how you’re still in love with him and all.”
“Hold on,” she said, face appalled. “I’m not still in love with him.”
“I’m not judging you for it?—”
She threw her hands in the air. “I’m not still in love with him! It’s been almosta decade.”
I lifted my own hands in concession. “If you say so.”
“I do,” she said firmly, eyes blazing.
I had to bite my cheek to keep from smiling. Don’t ask me why. Just that seeing her fired up like this sparked something within me that wanted to poke deeper, tear that carefully constructed appearance of hers wide open to reveal whatever burned underneath.
Even that first day we’d met to go over the menu, the time I’d been a complete dick to her after she’d told me about Alec, a part of me had wanted to see more.
I had been a dick, though, mostly because of my own issues, and I wasn’t trying to do that again. I sobered my expression. “But really,” I asked softly. “Why’d you guys split?” And then, because I liked to make myself suffer, tacked on, “He suck in bed?”
She narrowed her eyes. “No. That wasn’t a problem.”
Damn.
Her face relaxed, shoulders dropping on an exhale. “I don’t fully know what happened. Things were good.Reallygood.”
I ignored the twinge in my gut and focused on her.
“And then…” She looked at the shelves of liquor behind me, her gaze far away. “I don’t know. He was graduating, and he had all these plans while I still had my senior year to go, and suddenly, it all felt like a lot. I was overwhelmed and unsure of what I wanted, which was the exact opposite of how he felt. I didn’t know how to handle it.” She shrugged. “So I ended it. I thought I needed space to figure it out. Meanwhile, he moved on, married Stephanie, has a baby on the way, and here I am nine years later still trying.”
My chest burned as I listened, and not with the jealousy I’d expected. That I’d been prepared for.
This was recognition.
Her voice held the same insecurity I’d carried most of my life. The self-doubt that was so easy to drown in when faced with the tsunami of unflinching certainty that was my brother. And I knew what it was like to live with that self-doubt and not be able to shake it.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Sounds to me like you did what you felt was best for you at the time, the best you knew how. I wouldn’t call that a mistake.”
Her gaze finally shifted, locking with mine.
And there she was, the burning heart of her on full display, open and honest andreal. Full of passion and curiosity and a little bit of fear, but too determined to let that stop her.
I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. For what I said that day. How I acted when you told me about you and Alec. It wasn’t okay.”
Her brows lifted for a moment before her eyes softened, the corners of her mouth tipping up ever so slightly. My eyes lingered on her lips.
“Apology accepted.”
