Page 158 of Almost Ours
I didn’t know where he was getting his coffee now, where he was picking up his usual chocolate croissant. The thought made my chest ache. Maybe he’d stopped coming because he couldn’t face seeing me. Or maybe… maybe he just didn’t want to anymore.
The only time I’d seen him was at the grocery store a few days ago. The moment I spotted him in the produce section, my stomach dropped. I didn’t think–I just turned around and ducked into the next aisle, my heart hammering like a guilty child avoiding trouble.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to him. I couldn’t.
Seeing him, hearing his voice, would’ve shattered what little resolve I had left.
He’d texted me once since then. Just once.
Ryan: Hey, you should get the winter tires changed soon. Let me know if you need help–I can come by and take care of them for you.
I stared at the message for longer than I should have, my fingers hovering over the screen. There were a hundred things I could’ve said.Thank you. I miss you. Please come back.
In the end, I settled on nothing. Because anything else felt like opening a door I wasn’t ready to face yet.
Later that evening, Nina showed up with a bottle of wine in one hand and a takeout bag in the other, Liam trailing behind her.
“Thought you could use some company,” she said, offering a small smile as she kicked off her boots.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, stepping aside to let them in.
Liam and Connor ran upstairs almost immediately, their excited voices disappearing down the hall.
Nina plopped onto the couch, setting the food and wine on the coffee table before turning to me. “Come on. Let’s eat and talk. Or just eat. Whatever you need.”
I sat beside her but couldn’t even muster the energy to open a container. The smell of food made my stomach turn.
“You’re not eating?” Nina asked, her tone probing.
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
She sighed, her brow furrowing. “Harper, are you sure this is what you want?”
Her question hit me like a slap. I stared at her, blinking back tears I refused to let fall. “No, Nina. This isn’t what I want, but it’s what I have to do.”
“Why?” Her voice sharpened, her frustration cutting through the quiet. “Why do you have to do this, Harper? Because I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t get it. Ryan loves you. You love him. He’s been nothing but good to you and Connor. So why are you doing this to yourself?”
Anger bubbled up, hot and sharp. “Because I can’t trust him, Nina!” I snapped. “He didn’t tell me the truth. He hid something huge from me. I’ve been through this before, and I can’t–I won’t–put Connor through it, too.”
“Ryan is not Reid,” she said firmly, her eyes locked on mine. “And you know it. Deep down, youknowit.”
I shook my head and stood abruptly, as if moving would make this conversation stop. “You don’t get it.”
“No, I do get it,” Nina countered, standing too. “You’re scared. And you have every right to be. But Harper, running away from love because you’re scared? That’s not strength. That’s fear. Andfearis not going to protect you or Connor.”
Her words stung, cutting through the wall I’d built around my heart. “Thanks for the lecture,” I muttered, crossing my arms.
She sighed, her frustration softening as she stepped back. “I’m not trying to fight with you. I just hate seeing you like this, Harper. You deserve to be happy. And I think you know Ryan makes you happy.”
“Not everything is that simple,” I muttered.
Nina didn’t push further. The air between us went heavy, both of us picking at our food without another word. The clink offorks against takeout containers was the only sound, filling the silence neither of us seemed to be ready to break.
When her glass sat half-empty and the food was gone, she finally stood, gathering the empty containers. “We should get going. It’s late.”
I watched her call for Liam, my stomach twisting as I listened to the boys say their goodbyes. A part of me wanted to stop her, to make her sit back down and tell me I was right, that I had to do this, that I didn’t just throw away something good because I was scared.
But she wouldn’t. Because she knew the truth.
