Page 123 of Stay With Me

“How much time?”

She laughed and shook him playfully.“I don’t know, silly. But don’t do anything crazy like turning back into the guy you were in the meantime.”

He shook his head.“I’m not that guy anymore.”

She grinned and placed a small kiss on his chin.“I probably need to see that. And I probably need to see that you won’t give up on me. Do those things and then wait. It’ll all work out in the end.”

“How can you be sure?”

She tilted her head.“I don’t know. But if you really do love me the way you said you do, you’ll have a little faith in me, and you’ll give me time and you’ll give me space. But not too much space. Don’t disappear on me.”

He shifted down the mattress to rest his head on her chest while she combed her fingernails through his hair.“How do I give you space without giving you too much space? And how am I supposed to show you that I’m different if you can’t see me?”

He felt her shrug.“I don’t know, hon. But you’re smart. You’ll figure something out.”

He grumbled quietly, causing her to scratch his head more firmly.

“You’ll figure something out,”she repeated, her voice starting to sound a bit faded. “You’ll figure it out, Nick. You’ll figure it out. Nick, you’ll figure it out. You’ll figure it out…”

* * *

“Do you justlikebroken bones, sport?” James asked with a chuckle as an ER doc fitted Nick’s hand into a brace.

Nick lifted his gaze to the ceiling.

“No.”

“Then why’d you punch the wall?”

Nick exhaled heavily as he gritted his teeth. “Because I couldn’t figure out how to punch myself.”

James raised his eyebrows.

“I had that conversation with Sammie,” Nick went on. “Didn’t go over so well.”

“Oh,” James uttered as a sympathetic look crossed his face. “Well, you know, son … women are complex. And far more emotional than men. I’m sure she just needs to work through her thoughts.”

Nick said nothing as he flexed his fingers inside the brace.

“Did she say anything?”

Nick hesitated, recalling the awful conversation. “She said she feels like she doesn’t know who I am anymore. And that, uh … that was hard to hear. I got pretty mad. Said something I probably shouldn’t have, and that pissed her off so she left. Basically told me she never wanted to see me again.”

James gripped Nick’s shoulder. “You know, I can’t claim to know what’s going on in her head, but I do know your mom and I have had plenty of bad talks like that. When women are mad like that, they need time to cool off. Maybe give her a day or two and then try calling her.”

Nick huffed. “She won’t talk to me.”

“How do you know?”

“Why would she?”

James patted his back. “I don’t think you know that until you know it. The worst she’ll do is not pick up the phone. Or she’ll pick up and yell at you. Then possibly hang up. Then you’ll just have to try again later.”

Nick groaned as he rubbed his forehead.

James shrugged. “Unless you’re over the whole thing. I’m not going to lie to you, sport. Fixing this will take time and work. I wouldn’t try to do anything if all this isn’t what you really want. If that’s the case, you need to let it go so you both can move on. If your heart’s not totally in it, harping on it will only hurt the both of you that much more.”

“It is what I want,” Nick insisted. “That’s the only reason why I brought it up. I needed a clean slate so we could start over without any skeletons in the closet. I knew there was the potential for everything to go horribly if I told her all of that stuff, but it was worth risking exactly this situation.”