Page 163 of Repairing the Wreckage

“Griff! I took a bat to our car.”

She’s never going to forgive herself for that, is she? When I’ve forgiven her a thousand times over.

“You were hurting and you lashed out.” I crouch in front of her and take her hands in mine. “But I know you never lost faith in us. That part isn’t a lie at all.”

She blinks. “I wouldn’t even talk to you when you first came home. I thought I was dating Torch,” she whispers.

“Doesn’t matter.”

Her eyes widen like she’s worried I’ve completely lost it. “How can you say that?”

My mouth slides sideways. “I have a confession, Muffin.”

“What?”

“I rode out to see you when I first got home. I peeped the schedule Remy had taped to the fridge.” I tap the tip of her nose. “Since you had me blocked and your social media locked down tight, I was reduced to snooping.”

She rolls her eyes and waves her hand toward the door. “Thanks to that circus, I had to private all my socials.” Her forehead wrinkles. “But what do you mean you came to see me?”

“I waited in the cafe. Same place Remy tricked us into meeting. I never told him I’d already been there.”

“What?” she practically shouts. “How did I not know?”

“I didn’t want you to know. I tried to blend into the crowd.”

She cocks her head. “How?”

“Brought my laptop and set up camp at one of the tables with my muffin and coffee.”

One corner of her mouth quirks up. “You didn’t get any phone numbers?”

That dims the fun of my story a bit. “No. But I went in disguise.”

“Disguise?”

I brush my hand over the top of my head. “Ball cap.”

“Great disguise. Why didn’t I see you?” She rests her hand on my chest. “You’re hard to miss.”

“I kept my distance. I didn’t want to do anything to upset or distract you from your classes.” I stop and can’t help smiling as a clear picture of that day comes to mind. “But the second I saw you, my heart fucking stopped.”

A hint of a shy smile curves her lips. “Really?”

“Oh, yeah.” I curl my hand around hers and bring her wrist closer to brush my lips against her soft skin. “Then to complete my stalker destiny, I followed you a little bit.”

“I wish I’d known.”

“Nah, once I knew you still loved me,” I shrug as if leaving that day hadn’t felt like dropping my heart on the sidewalk, “I decided to wait for the right time.”

“What do you mean? How’d you know?”

“You looked so cute that day. You were wearing these sexy green sweatpants.”

“Sexy sweatpants, huh?”

“On you—definitely. But that’s not how I knew.”

“How?”

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