Page 39 of Affliction

The heat of his stare made me shrink back against the wall. I was not prepared for this run-in. I was also probably very late for my meeting. But hell if I was leaving this kitchen right now. Especially since we were actually being semi civil to each other.

“My mask?” I wrinkled my nose.

Terry laughed in return, irritating me further. Maybe I did want to make my meeting. Seeing I wasn’t amused with his laughter, he wiped the smile clean from his face.

“It’s hard to explain. I notice that, when you’re trying to hide something, your eyes aren’t as soft and warm as they are right now. Your tone takes on a harder quality, and your beautiful smile doesn’t meet your eyes. There are also fake niceties that go along with it. I’ve seen you do it before, when we were together. I just wasn’t expecting you to still do it.”

I knew I did it. I did it to keep people at arm’s length. The people I worked with were great, but we weren’t going to be besties. And we certainly weren’t going to hang out after work. The scars of my past had left me with some weird tics, and I didn’t want them to be seen by everyone. Especially those I worked with.

Going out with friends this weekend had been easier than I thought it would be. Before, I had avoided all dance clubs, bars, or other public places that had a lot of noise to them. I always felt like I needed to be on full alert. But the self-defense classes I had taken helped that. Having Bryce there helped immensely.

“Mia.” Terry’s voice was trying to bring me back. I wasn’t sure how long I had been caught in my reflection.

“Sorry,” I muttered. “I better get back to my desk. I have a meeting that started a few minutes ago.”

“Ah.” Terry looked reluctant for me to leave. I almost felt guilty about leaving, but the conversation had gone from fun to heavy, and I wanted out.

Terry stepped back, allowing me a clear path to leave the kitchen. I took it and began heading past him. A hand grabbed my arm and gave it a gentle tug. I turned and looked down to see Terry’s fingers wrapped lightly around it. My eyes traveled up his body to meet his.

“Terry?” I wasn’t sure what he wanted, and judging by the way his eyes were watching me—pleading—I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

“Are you still seeing him?”

“Who?” I enjoyed the way his eyes dipped in sadness when I asked for clarification, even though they shouldn’t.

“Bryce,” he bit out.

I sighed and pulled at my arm. He released me quickly. I turned on my heel so we were facing each other once again.

“He’s my friend,” I reminded him.

“He’s more than that,” he challenged.

My face flushed when I thought of how much more he had been to me Saturday night.

“Mia, I don’t want to see you thinking about what happened between the two of you. I can’t handle it.”

“Sorry,” I said, even though I was anything but.

He laughed, but it sounded wrong, off. Terry wasn’t humored by my response. He was irritated. “No, you’re not.”

“You’re right, I’m not.” It saddened me to think this was the way it was.

“A part of me will always be yours.”

His words surprised me, and I stepped back. I needed more space from him. But he came forward, taking away the distance I tried to create.

“Terry,” I warned him. I just wish the tone of my voice had come out stronger. Terry recognized it and flashed me his signature smirk.

“You and I both know it’s not true. There’s still something here, Mia. It’s what’s keeping me here and helping you. It’s what’s keeping you from telling me to go to hell and leave.”

“Not exactly. You’re an excellent photographer and one of the most popular ones in fashion. It would be stupid of me to rebuff your offers to help us.”

“Just keep telling yourself that, Mia.” Terry gave me a knowing smile, and it made me want to punch him.

I hated when he was right. I could easily send him away, but Tim told me Terry was doing amazing things with our catalog. The photos he was getting of my shoes were better than anything we’d previously released. It was a business decision.

“It’s just business,” I told him, finally saying the words that had been rattling around in my head since he started helping us out.

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