Page 71 of That Reilly Boy
“Nobody you know is aware I even have one, never mind what it is.”
Nobody I know? So he basically means nobody in Sumac Falls, but there have been women in his life who’ve seen it. Jealousy claws at me, but I don’t let my smile slip. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the energy to date, but I haven’t exactly been pining for him all these years. “Show me what it is or I’ll tell your mother how much I love your tattoo.”
His jaw flexes as the tips of his ears turn pink. “That’s playing dirty.”
I laugh. “Says the man who married me to get my mother’s house. Let me see it.”
Reluctantly, he lowers the shirt, and I step closer as he reveals what looks like a pen and ink sketch of woods, with a boulder jutting out into flowing water.
“It’s our spot by the river,” I whisper, unable to stop myself from tracing the outline of the rock with my fingertip. “When did you have this done?”
“My junior year of college.” His voice is low and raspy. “I went with some friends to Florida for spring break and there were beaches and women and parties, and all I could think about was how much I missed sitting with you on that rock by the river. I sketched it out on a napkin and carried it around with me until it got tattered. Then I found a way to make it permanent.”
I rest my palm over the tattoo for a moment, feeling his heart beating as hard and fast as mine. And when I try to pull my hand back, he captures my wrist.
“It was the only place I was ever truly happy,” he murmurs softly.
I stare at his fingers encircling my wrist because I can’t bear to look him in the eyes right now. Letting him see how much the memory of that spot hurts me feels too much like letting him win. “You ended it. Not me.”
“It would never work between us. Our families weren’t going to allow it and sneaking around once they knew would have been harder. You would have gotten in trouble. By ending it when I did, nobody knew. If we’d gone to the homecoming dance, everybody in town would have known.”
“Ah.” I jerk my hand out of his grasp and turn away. “Saving me from my own bad decisions. How noble of you. And ghosting me on homecoming night to make sure I got the point.”
“Cara, I?—”
“I told you I don’t want to talk about the past, Hayden. I meant it. I’m exhausted and I don’t have the energy.” I walk to the windows and look out over the view for a moment. Then I glance over my shoulder and see he’s pulled his shirt back on, covering the memories engraved in his skin. “Since this is Boston, do you have that app where we just tell it what we want to eat and it magically appears on your doorstep?”
Chapter Forty-Three
Hayden
It’s killing me not to tell Cara everything about the night I ended our relationship. I pieced together a long time ago that she thinks I stood her up—that I just never showed to take her to the dance—which means Marcus and Gin decided to let her believe that.
They both knew I was there when I said I would be.
But I don’t want to push Cara’s boundaries after a long, emotional day. “What are you in the mood for? There aren’t many foods not in the delivery area, and there are even fewer foods I don’t like. Name whatever you want and it’ll show up on the doorstep.”
Cara goes back to the sofa and plops down beside Penny. “That might be too many options. How am I supposed to decide?”
“I’d go for something you can’t get in Sumac Falls.”
“Oh sure, that narrows it down a lot.” She laughs and scrubs her hands over her face. “Okay. Maybe a deep dish pizza. Or Chinese food. Or…”
“Just do me a favor and don’t say b-a-c-o-n out loud or her majesty will be deciding what we have.”
She laughs softly and reaches over to stroke Penny’s fur. My dog sighs her happy sigh. While she talks through the options, I continue cursing myself for taking my T-shirt off. I’d stripped it off out of habit, not even thinking about the tattoo.
It’s going to be a long time before I can remember the feel of her fingertips skimming over my chest without finding it hard to breathe. Resisting the impulse to put my hand over hers and hold it there so she could feel what her touch did to my heartbeat had burned through my self-control. What I need to do is remain fully clothed, out of arm’s reach, and focused on the litany of take-out options Cara’s cycling through.
“I really want a great pizza,” she’s saying. “But it’s also been years since I’ve had crab Rangoon, so I’m torn. You might have to choose, Hayden, or I’ll still be deciding between them come breakfast.”
“We’ll get both. You can have pizza and crab Rangoon and we’ll put the leftovers in the fridge.” I watch her struggle between wanting both and needing to reject what she probably sees as wasteful spending. “Trust me, they’ll get eaten.”
It only takes me a few minutes to place the two orders, and then I text the front desk to let them know there will be two deliveries. I’ll wait until they’ve both arrived before I go down and collect them.
“Can you turn the TV on?” Cara asks after a few minutes of the quiet that descends while I gather what I’ll need to set the table. “Today’s been overwhelming and I’d really love to have something to focus on besides the chaos in my head.”
I know I’m responsible for a substantial amount of that chaos, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Empty words aren’t going to make it better. After turning on the television, I show her how to navigate the on-screen guide and the different streaming app options, and hand her the remote.
