Page 40 of Trust Again

“He looked like he was having a nervous breakdown. Sawyer offered him sedatives, too.”

“I vaguely remember. Hey, can I have another drink?”

Immediately he held out the bottle to me. Thanking him, I took a few more gulps. The water was helping, for sure.

“So you brought me here,” I said, hesitating. “And you’re talking to me again. Is there a special reason for that?”

“Sawyer gave me a talking to,” he replied casually.

“Oh yeah?”

He grabbed the bottle and emptied it in one drink. Then he screwed the cap back on and set bottle on the table. “I think I owe you an apology.”

My mouth opened and shut. This was unexpected.

“The thing with my family has really messed me up. Usually I’m very private, at least as far as they go. You caught me at a bad moment, and… I acted like an idiot.”

I picked at a piece of lint on my knee. “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to pressure you, Spence.”

“I know. You just wanted to be there for me, the way friends”—he cleared his throat— “the way friends are there for each other. And I wouldn’t let you because there were a few things I had to work out for myself.”

Now I looked up. “And that’s your right, too. I just wanted you to know I was there for you. In case you ever need someone to drive you somewhere again, or if you ever feel the urgent need to get something off your chest.”

He frowned and I raised my hands in the air. “But I also get it, if you don’t want to talk about it. Talking is overrated anyway. We could just go back to being… friends, if you want.”

God, that must be the lamest thing ever said.

“I never stopped being your friend, Dawn,” Spencer said, softly.

“It kind of felt like you’d stopped,” I whispered.

“I know. All I can say is, I’m sorry. I mean it.”

My cheeks were warm when I thought back to how he’d pressed me against the fridge. “If we’re going to be friends again, you… can’t do that again,” I said.

He seemed to know what I meant, and sighed. “I know. Sometimes I can’t control myself when you’re around.”

I snorted.

“Come on, I’m serious, Dawn. That wasn’t me. That was the…” he searched for the right word, “… monster that lives in me and comes out sometimes,” he continued.

“So the fact that you wanted to get nasty with me is because you’re actually the Hulk?” I asked.

He flashed a big grin. “Exactly, but the one from the Avengers, because he sort of gets Black Widow.” He was looking at my hair.

I guessed what was coming next.

“By the way, Black Widow also had red hair.”

“So I guess we know what we’re going to dress up as at Halloween. We’ll put green body paint on you and I’ll get a black catsuit.”

“You shouldn’t have said that. Now I won’t be able to think of anything else until October but you in a black, skintight…” He stopped and the muscles in his jaw tensed. “Are you okay with this?” he asked abruptly.

My heart gave a little flip of relief. “Frankly, I kind of missed your teasing, a little.”

The corners of his mouth twitched up. “I missed you, too.”

Chapter 14