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Pretend it doesn’t bother him.
“What are you doing here?” I blurt it out, my impulsivity staining my cheeks.
My blunt question quirks at the corner of his mouth. “Hello to you too.”
“I’m sorry.” His greeting stains my cheeks, admonishes me for being rude, whether he meant to or not. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m just—”
“Wondering what I’m doing here?” he says, giving me another grin. “I got that.”
Shut up now, Henley. Just stop talking.
When I don’t say anything else, Conner shrugs. “I thought maybe you’d want to try seeing your dad again.”
Oh.
“But it’s Thursday.” Jesus, thank you Captain Obvious. I take a deep breath and start over. “I mean, don’t you have a shift at the bar?”
“I’m on hiatus,” he says, his tone telling me that it’s more than that. That he’s been benched and doesn’t want to talk about it.
“I can’t go like this.” I look down at my dress. My heels. The pearls Jeremy gave me for my twenty-first birthday. “I—”
“I’ll follow you home,” he says, his tone easy and reasonable. “You can change and then we can go.” I wait for him to give me an out. To tell me I don’t have to go if I don’t want to.
He doesn’t.
He knows what I’m doing. He knows me better than anyone. I’m afraid. I’m stalling and he’s doing what he’s always done for me.
He’s waiting for me to catch up.
Finally, I nod. “Okay. Let’s go see my dad.”