Page 23 of Denim & Diamonds

Brock

There was nothing more peaceful than being out in the woods. The towering trees. The earthy air. The rustle of the leaves.

Trevor and I were working on one of a few log cabins I’d been building. This wasn’t the one I planned to live in; that one was a lot bigger and a bit farther off the beaten path. But this smaller cabin was one I’d sell or rent someday as an investment property.

It was a wonder I hadn’t chopped a damn finger off because since last night, I’d been replaying that FaceTime session with February in my head nonstop.

At one point Trevor stopped what he was doing to bring me my phone.

I took it. “Why are you giving me this?”

“You left it on that rock over there. I saw it light up. You missed a call from Nina.” He snickered. “What the heck does she want?”

I stuck my shovel into the ground and looked down at the screen. Letting out a deep sigh, I groaned. “I don’t understand why she keeps calling. ”

“ Keeps calling? She’s called you more than once?”

“Yeah.” I placed the phone in my back pocket. “It’s not the first time she’s called this week.”

“You’re not answering?”

“I haven’t, and I don’t plan to.”

My brother narrowed his eyes. “Isn’t that kind of rude?”

“Yeah, well, so is using women to make you Mexican food and then ghosting them.” I rolled my eyes and sighed. “I don’t actually think it’s rude, no. Isn’t she the one who left town? Why should I answer her calls if I don’t want to talk to her? There’s nothing to talk about .”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just seems rude not to return someone’s call.”

I raised my voice. “I know what she wants, and I’m not interested.”

“All right. All right.” He resumed working. “But you think she wants you back?”

“Well, she tried to get me to commit to her. That didn’t work.

So she left town. Pretty sure she believed her disappearance would change my mind.

But that strategy doesn’t always work. Sometimes distance doesn’t make the heart grow fonder.

Sometimes you grow even further apart. Since she’s been gone, I’ve realized even more how incompatible we were. ”

“Is it that, or is it that someone else came on the scene not so long after she left and mended your broken heart?”

February most definitely had taken my life by storm.

But even if she and I were opposites, we were compatible .

And if there had been a broken heart to mend, she would’ve helped with that.

But contrary to the rumors in this town, I wasn’t devastated by my ex leaving.

It turned out to be more of a relief than a heartbreak.

“My feelings for February don’t change the fact that Nina was never right for me,” I told Trevor. “But as far as February goes…” I shook my head and smiled, thinking again about our virtual sex last night.

After a moment, he burst out laughing. “Damn, that good, huh?”

I couldn’t help grinning. “Yes, my brother. It is that good.”

“You devil.” He lowered his voice, though our only company out here was wild animals. “You had sex with her?”

I didn’t feel comfortable giving my brother details. So I tried to be vague. “We didn’t have sex…in person. That’s all I’ll say.”

“Well, shit. That sounds kinky. No wonder you don’t give a shit about Nina’s calls.”

“It’s not that I don’t give a shit about Nina. You don’t just stop caring about someone you were with for a while. But I see now that we weren’t right for each other. And it’s not gonna help her if I entertain whatever it is she wants from me. That would be like opening an old wound. End of story.”

Trevor dropped the subject as we got back to work, and I began chopping wood.

Several minutes later, I’d just swung my ax backward, getting ready to slice into a huge log, when a voice stopped me.

“Hey!”

I turned to find February behind me. What the hell?

“What are you doing here? I nearly took your head off. ”

“Sorry. I didn’t realize this was a danger zone.”

I put down the ax. “How did you know where I was?”

“I went to the bar, and the bartender on duty gave me the address. I used the GPS on your phone to walk here.”

“Hey, February,” my brother called out.

“Hi, Trevor…” She smiled, but it seemed strained.

Something is off.

“You shouldn’t be walking alone. But you already know that. This is a very desolate area.”

“What choice did I have if I wanted to come find you?”

“You could’ve called, and I would’ve come to you. You know that.”

“I didn’t want to stop you if you were working.” She looked down at the ax on the ground. “Obviously, you’re busy.”

“Let’s talk over here.” We walked toward the back of the property where we could have some privacy. “What’s wrong, February? You look like something is bothering you.”

“You’re right.” She exhaled. “Something is bothering me.”

“Talk to me. What’s going on?”

She frowned. “I got a phone call earlier on your phone.”

“Okay…”

“It was your ex-girlfriend.”

Crap. What the fuck?

“I asked her if I could take a message, but she just told me to tell you to call her back. Apparently, you haven’t been returning her calls. ”

“There’s nothing going on there, February. I don’t understand why she’s trying to reach me all of a sudden. But that’s correct—I haven’t been taking her calls.”

“She said it was important.”

“It’s not important.” I shook my head. “She’s trying to get back with me. And I want no part of it.”

She looked up at the sky. “I shouldn’t be upset, but it rattled me a little, that’s all. With me leaving soon, I’m just extra sensitive, I guess.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why haven’t you taken her calls?” She crossed her arms. “Is that how you treat someone you used to be involved with?”

“Trust me, it’s for her own good.”

February cocked her head. “Why?”

“Because it’s over between us. Nothing good can come from opening up the lines of communication again.

She left. She made her decision. It was the right one.

And I have no interest in entertaining what she has to say.

Anything I tell her about what I’ve been up to since she left isn’t going to please her, because I’ve been happier than ever.

I’m sorry if my attitude about the whole thing seems shitty, but I feel like my refusing to talk is in her best interest, too. ”

A look of worry crossed February’s face. “You really think she’s trying to get back with you?”

“I suspect that.”

“Why?”

I paused, unsure whether to elaborate. “Before she left, Nina had seemed sure I would change my mind. She’d bet that I’d come to my senses by her birthday, said she’d come back and we’d meet up at the place where we first met. Her birthday is approaching. That’s why she’s calling.”

“So you’re standing her up?”

“I’m doing what’s best for her instead of wasting her energy. Why would I want to let her down a second time?” I sighed. “I’ve also been in a good headspace lately. I don’t want to disrupt that. I’m setting boundaries. You know what I mean?”

Her shoulders seemed to relax. “I can understand that rationale,” she said. “When Tobias came here, it felt like the last thing I needed. I’d been so happy otherwise and was relieved when he left. So I can relate to having boundaries.”

“Sometimes we have to. As I get older, I’m learning that. It’s bad enough that everyone in this town seems to think they’re entitled to know everything about my life.”

February wrapped her arms around herself. “It just seems weird because I’m leaving soon, and all of a sudden she’s calling you. Feels like bad timing.”

“I get it.” I took off my flannel and wrapped it around her, because once again, she had no damn jacket on. “I’m sorry you’ve been overanalyzing her phone call when it truly means nothing.”

She closed the flannel over herself. “It’s okay.”

I rubbed her cheek with the back of my fingers. “If anything, my experience in getting to know you has helped me confirm that I made the right decision in ending things with Nina.”

She sighed. “I might have overreacted because I had that therapy session with my dad earlier today. It was good, but it made me very emotional, and then that phone call came in. It was just a lot at once. ”

“Ah.” I nodded in understanding. “That’s right. This was family day. Let’s go sit over here for a minute.”

I led her to the back of my truck, where we sat on the tailgate.

She spent the next several minutes telling me about the experience today with her father.

“Thinking about your dad’s cheating has put you on edge,” I said. “And then you get a phone call from my ex and somehow tie the two together. I’m sorry. I realize how bad that timing is.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I’ve never cheated on anyone, Feb.”

“Never?”

I shook my head. “Never. Broken more than a few hearts, but never cheated.”

“That’s commendable.”

“Not really. It’s just the right thing to do. There’s no reason to cheat on someone when you can just end things if you’re not happy.”

She arched a brow. “How many broken hearts are we talking here? Maybe I should walk away now so you don’t have a chance to break mine. I don’t want to be the one hundred and seventeenth.”

“Really, woman? Because I’m fairly certain that if anyone is going to end up with a broken heart in this situation, it’s me.” I looked her in the eyes. “Do you have any idea how badly I’ve fallen for you?”

“Badly enough to give up your life here and move to the City?”

Well, shit. That question had crossed my mind multiple times, but I certainly wasn’t expecting her to hit me with it right this second. Not like there was a gray area to the answer, either. It was pretty much yes or no. Shit or get off the pot. The difference between being together or not.

I hesitated, which likely didn’t help my case. But I couldn’t answer the question without thinking it through.

“Your silence on the matter pretty much gives me my answer, Brock.”

“Don’t make assumptions because I think before I speak.”

“Look…” She placed her hand on my arm. “It wasn’t a fair question anyway.

It was rhetorical. Because I know your entire life is here.

I’d be a shitty person if I expected you to give all of that up and move to an unfamiliar place.

That’s why this situation is so complicated.

We may want to be together, but it very well may be impossible. ”

My brows drew in. “Sounds like you’ve already made your mind up that this is a dead end.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “What are you saying, February?”

She stood. “I think I’m saying we should stop seeing each other before we both get hurt.” Her eyes watered. “I have to go.”

I shot up. “What? Wait. Let me at least drive you. We can talk this through. I—”

“I’m sorry, Brock.”

I couldn’t get another word in because she ran off faster than a bat out of hell—once again still wearing my shirt.