Page 28 of The Comeback Road (Leaving #2)

Lexie

October

Magnolia: Will you be home for Thanksgiving?

Magnolia : I take that as a no.

I half threw my phone on the communal dining room table as the texts rolled in, unsure of what to say. I knew I wasn’t going home, but by answering calls—or even text messages—I’d have to explain my prolonged absence, and I just couldn’t find it in me to deal with it yet.

“Problem?” Zed asked, still typing away on his tablet.

“Nothing that concerns you.”

“Your lack of progress concerns me, and I can’t help but think it’s because you’re distracted.”

I gaped at him. Rude. “That’s rude, Zed.”

He just shrugged at me, still not lifting his attention from what he was working on. “It’s the truth.”

“Wow, don’t spare my feelings or anything.”

“The sooner we wrap this up, the sooner you can get back to whatever that is…Oh,” he said matter-of-factly, “now I see.”

“What could you possibly see, Zed? You haven’t looked at anything but that tablet in hours.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“You don’t want this to end. You’re running from something.”

I sputtered, “I—that’s—n—”

“Well, I have a life I’d like to get back to, a family. So if you could please figure your shit out, I’d be forever grateful.”

Still without taking his eyes off his tablet, he got up and left the room, leaving me stewing in his words. Is he right? Am I distracted? Am I prolonging this …The thought itself made me pale. No. No.

No way.