Page 103 of Huckleberry Hill
I took it. “Thanks.”
“So you haven’t talked to your ex? Since it ended?”
I paused and then shook my head. “No. I haven’t talked to him. Why would I?”
“I don’t know. Maybe there’s some unresolved stuff there.”
“No. It’s resolved,” I said with finality. “It’s over. It’s done. Dead and buried. Ain’t coming back.”
“What’s that saying? Thou doth protest too much?”
I raised my brows. “It’s not me protesting. I don’t want him to call. I don’t want to talk to him.”
“So, if he came back?—”
“He won’t.”
He cocked his head to the side. “What’s fascinating is that you didn’t even pause to think about it.”
“Nothing to think about.” I shrugged. “You have to look forward, not behind. And we didn’t work. It’s all hypothetical anyway because he’ll never come back and I wouldn’t want him to.”
He took a drink of his beer but didn’t reply.
“You look like you want to say something,” I remarked.
“I want to say a lot of things. But I don’t think you’ll like what I have to say.”
“Probably,” I agreed.
“So I’m keeping my thoughts to myself.”
“No, don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Dangle the carrot. Now I have to know.”
“I don’t think you’re being honest,” he said.
My heart drummed with nerves. “About what?”
“About what you want,” he said.
“You think I’m lying about my ex? That I actually want him back?”
He paused and then shook his head. “No I think you’re telling the truth about that, but I think you’re not being truthful about being over it.”
“I said it’s over, not that I’m over it. And just when I think I might be over it, something wallops me in the face.”
“Like the call from his cousin and you quitting the restaurant, so you don’t have to face the family that’s not your family anymore.”
I swallowed and felt tears sting my eyes. “Ouch. What is it you want from me, Declan?” I asked softly.
“For you to be honest with yourself.”
“About what?” I was ready to tear my hair out. “That I enjoy being with you, but that I can’t handle anything serious right now? That I’m more devastated about my breakup than I want to be?”
“You’re still in love with him.” His jaw clenched. “Aren’t you?”
