Page 74 of Center of Gravity

The door opened and Winslow scampered toward it, then kept yapping. I heard some cursing as the door slammed. Not Alex. Definitely not Alex. I tensed and stood.

“Rob?”

I was so disoriented by the alien context of that familiar voice, it took me a second to reply, and longer to get to the door.

Sean. He stood in the foyer, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. He was a mess; dark circles under his eyes, his long-sleeve T-shirt rumpled, hair limp. I frowned.

“So this is the place, huh?” He affected a casual air.

“Yes—” I started automatically, then stopped. “What are you doing here?Howare you here?”

Sean exhaled and raked a hand through his hair. His face was drawn. “You’ve talked about it a lot, so I just drove the streets until I saw your car and the sign in the yard. It’s not like there’s a ton of real estate around here.”

My lips parted, then clamped shut again. My frown deepened. “That’s…inappropriate and a little fucked-up.”

He flinched, then met my hard stare. “I’m your ex and your coworker, for fuck’s sake.”

“Exactly. You need to go.” My hackles started to rise. What the hell was he thinking just coming over? It was presumptuous and rude and exactly something Sean would do.

He shifted on his feet, removing his hands from his pockets to give me a placating gesture as he took a step closer. When Winslow growled, I shushed him and he retreated partway down the hall, remaining vigilant, as if he could sense the tension limning me.

“I left Lisa,” Sean said, his voice quiet.

“And?” It came out steely and cold, just as I’d intended it, but God, he looked so hopeless. I leaned past him to open the door.

He turned his palms up. “And that’s it.”

“You need to go.” I said again, but it sounded kinder this time.

He caught me by the elbow, urging me around. I was poised to speak when his lips mashed against mine. Hard and reckless, the way I’d always liked. Was it tempting? Yes. His kiss was a familiar sear. But it felt all wrong.

I wondered when the moment was that I’d actually moved on. I thought I’d feel it in a definitive way. That I might wake up one morning with the certainty in my head:yes, I’m over him. But I hadn’t. It was like a sore spot that I rubbed and worried on occasion, testing to see if it was still tender. Lately, I’d forgotten to test it at all.

It was undeniable now. I didn’t want him like that anymore. Instead, my thoughts sprang to Alex, to the softness of his lips, the alluring juxtaposition of warm flesh and the cool steel of the ring piercing it. His smile and his laugh and the way he teased me and drove me crazy. All of it.

I pushed Sean away.

“I thought we might—I stillloveyou, Rob.” Sean’s hands dropped back to his sides when I took another backward step out of his embrace.

“I don’t know that you ever loved me, Sean. You might’ve thought you did, but love doesn’t lie the way you did.”

His eyes brimmed, but the threat of tears only strengthened my conviction.

“I was scared,” he whispered.

“I know. Me too. But I never lied to you.”

“Fuck.” A tremor passed through his jaw, and though I didn’t feel as sorry for him as he might have wanted me to, I didn’t hate him either. I was sad for us both and the stupid decisions that had landed us here.

Muttering a curse, I gestured him into the kitchen.

“You look like shit,” I said as he trailed behind me.

“I know.”

“Have you eaten?” Once he sat at the table, I planted a mug of coffee in front of him that he wrapped with his trembling fingers.

“I can’t.”