Page 79

Forty
Conner
“That’s rude, you know?”
I shoot Tess a look. She’s sitting next to me, hazel eyes narrowed and aimed at my face.
“Everything I do is rude,” I tell her, shifting my gaze back to Henley. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“You know what I’m talking about.” I don’t look at her, but her speech is garbled like she has food in her mouth. “It’s the same as eavesdropping.”
“I’m supposed to feel bad, right?” The corner of my mouth twitches in a smirk. “I need to remember to write this shit down.”
Just a few more weeks and everything can go back to the way they were.
Watching her mouth form the words feels like someone is stabbing me in the chest but I don’t look away because looking away from her was never something I’ve been able to do.
Don’t call him that… his name is Conner.
I can only imagine what he said. What he thinks of me. Jeremy Bradford, the trust fund baby. Mr. Never-so-much-as-broke-a-sweat-in-his-entire-life. Probably break out in hives if he so much had to pump his own gas.
Yeah, I met him once. He looked me straight in the eye and told me I wasn’t good enough for her. That she deserved better than someone like me.
And he was right.
Henley looks in our direction, her gaze landing right on me. I force myself to look away. “Got a costume idea for you.” I aim a grin at Tess. “Crazy cat lady.”
She snorts at me. “I’m not the one who keeps buying the food, jerkwad.” Dragging a pair of French fries through the depleted supply of ketchup in the bottom of her basket, she shoves them into her mouth. “I’m not dressing up this year. Henley and I are hanging out at her place tonight.”
That gets my full attention. “Henley’s not going to be here?” I look down at her, brow furrowed.
“Nope.” She stuffs an onion ring into her mouth and shakes her head. “What’s going on with you two?”
Henley’s been home going on five weeks now and this is the first time she’s acknowledged that there even is a Henley and me, let alone ask me what that might entail.
“Nothing.” I shrug, attention split between Tess and the woman we happen to be talking about. She ends the call before shooting a glance in my direction. Our eyes lock for a split second before she’s moving off toward the bathrooms. It takes every last scrap of willpower I can muster and a good-sized miracle to keep me from lunging out of me seat to chase her down the hall. “We fucked a few times, decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and settled on being just friends.”
Nooo—she decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and you’re such a pathetic shitsack that you agreed with her. Anything to keep her. Anything to make her happy.
When Tess doesn’t respond, I give her my undivided attention. “What?”
“Friends?” She shakes her head at me like I just said the single most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard. “You and Henley are just friends?”
“That’s what I said.” I don’t know why—I mean, I fully understand how ridiculous it sounds—but I feel defensive. “What? I can’t have female friends? I’ve got nothing to offer a woman except what’s between my legs? Is that it? Like I can’t hold a goddamned conversation or—”
“What the shit?” Tess leans away from me, putting enough distance between us that I can see the look on her face. She’s pissed. And wounded. Never a good combination where Tess is concerned. “You do know I’m a woman, right?” she barks at me. “I have a vagina and everything.”
Fuck.
“You don’t count.”
“I don’t count?” She sits back and glares at me. “Wow. Thanks.”
“That’s not what I meant.” I rub a hand over my face, suddenly sick and tired of the conversation. “You know that’s not—”
“I know better than anyone how amazing you are, Conner Gilroy, despite your constant and often exhausting bullshit.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “But you and Henley aren’t friends—certainly not just friends.”
“It’s what she wanted, Tess.” I drop my hand and force myself to look at her. “I fucked up and things got weird and… she decided she doesn’t want me anymore, okay?” I hate saying it out loud. Admitting that I messed up what is probably the single best and most damaging thing that has ever happened to me. “She just wants to be friends and I said yes because I’m so desperate to be with her that I’ll take it any way I can get it. Pathetic, right?”
Her shoulders sag a little at my admission. “I’m sorry, Con.” She’s that Tess again. The Tess who knows me. The real me. Has seen me at my absolute worse and loves me anyway.
From the corner of my eye, I catch movement. A blur of red hair and freckled skin approaching the table and I can’t. I just can’t pretend anymore. Not right now.
“It’s all good, Tessie.” I drop a quick kiss on her cheek. “See you back at the garage,” I say, easing myself from the booth. As soon as I’m free, I bolt for the door, and I don’t look back.