Page 21 of Same Thing

“You’re lying—”

“Why do you just argue? I can feel however I want, and if it takes me a minute to figure out what one of my emotions is, then so be it!” She gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He’d tilted his chin up slightly, and his eyes were glowing. And the most confusing part of the way he was looking at her? The slight smile on his lips. “I’m not trying to bait you, little human.”

“Yet you’ll call me little human to keep me in my place. If I cut you, will you bleed?”

He didn’t answer and the smile faded from his face.

“If I insulted you, would you think about it later?” she asked. “Have you felt loss? Have you felt joy? Do you think about your future?”

She waited, letting the silence thicken between them.

“Yes,” he said softly.

“Well then, we are made of thesame thing, you and I.” Her eyes burned from tears that made no sense in this moment. She was angry now, he was right. “You went through my memory box, and most of those trinkets are from trips with my mother, my grandmother, and my great grandmother. My mother had one, and I remember her sharing all of those lovely memories with me when I was growing up. It was a safe spot when I was having a bad day, or I couldn’t figure myself out, or I was so damn frustrated because I wasn’t like the other kids. I didn’t move through the world easily like they did. I just sat on the sidelines, but when my mother would tell me about the memories she held in her memory box, it didn’t matter how many times I heard the stories, I felt happy.” Her lip quivered and she hated it. She was in it now, so she might as well just expose it all. “It probably won’t happen for me, but if I am lucky enough to have a daughter someday, I want a memory box so I can tell her stories and give her a safe escape from whatever hard day she has. I kept the coaster because someday, I could tell her I met a werewolf once, and he was nice to me, and he made me smile and for a little bit, I forgot about the hard stuff. For me,that’s pretty great. You can have the coaster back if you want it. Or I can throw it away.”

He huffed a breath and settled his head back. “Fuck,” he whispered, and ran his hands down his face, then draped an arm over the steering wheel. His eyes were darker now, and softer. “I don’t know how to be around you.”

“You could just be yourself.”

He shook his head, back and forth, back and forth. “You say that like it’s an easy thing. I have to be different things to different people.”

Nory shrugged her shoulders up to her ears. “Maybe with me, you don’t have to be anything you aren’t. I’m a stranger today, and I’ll be a stranger tomorrow,” she told him, using his own words.

“I would be honored if you kept the coaster in your memory box. Please don’t throw it away.”

She nodded. “Okay.” The silence hung thick between them, and he reached over and grabbed her hand, and just held it there on her lap. They didn’t say anything, they just touched, as her heart raced on and on.

And then his phone vibrated, and he released her hand, and the moment was done.

“I have to get to work,” he murmured. “I have a lot of people to meet with this morning. Gotta convince them I’m fit to lead.”

She didn’t understand. Maybe he was a manager or something, but there was almost a sadness in his tone.

“You don’t like your job?” she asked, trying to find her footing with him.

“I have to tell you something.”

“Okay.”

“I have agreed to meet with the woman you saw last night again.”

She’d never felt words hurt like this before. Nory couldn’t look him in the face, or he would see the hurt in her eyes. Her great grandmother had always said she could never be a poker player. She was too readable.

“Of course,” she rushed out. “Of course you will. You will make a beautiful couple.”

“Nory—”

“No, that’s good.” She fumbled for her coffee and tried to balance her purse strap and half eaten breakfast in the other hand, while pushing the passenger side door open. “I’m really happy for you.”

“Look at the coaster, Nory.”

“I hope you have a great day at work,” she said, forcing happiness into her tone. “And good luck with your dating life. I’m jealous. Not of her or you. Well, kind of. I tried online dating before, but I always talk really easily on text and not at all in person. You would probably be surprised by that because I get around you and I’m like bla, bla.” She let off a nervous laugh and wished she could stop blabbing. “Okay then, I’m going to go.”

“Look at the coaster, Nory,” he said again.

“Have a good life, Liam,” she said, and shut the door. Hell, it was so hard to walk away from his truck, but she convinced herself not to turn around and get that last look as he drove away.