Page 82 of Tell Me Something True

“I never wanted that. I never meant to hurt you. That’s the truth.”

“The worst,” he went on as if she hadn’t spoken, “were the mornings. Those few moments before I was fully awake. I’d turn to you, expecting you to be there, lying beside me, only to realize you were gone. And each day, it would hit me, like a hammer to my chest. An unexpected blow blindsiding me again and again. Every. Fucking. Day. And while it eventually faded, it didn’t go away. Not completely. Not until I graduated and came home. It helped that you’d never been here. That I had no memories of you here. It helped to know that if I ever thought I saw you walking toward me in the sunshine wearing a green sundress and looking so fucking beautiful it hurt just to breathe, it was nothing but my imagination.” He paused. “Until now.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, visibly shaken. “I should have told you that night at the bar that I’d been to a job interview here.”

“But you didn’t. You blindsided me. Again. That’s the thing about the choices we make. We think they won’t affect anyone else, but they oftentimes do.”

“If we could talk about this later, I can explain. Maybe we could get some dinner—”

“No.”

“It doesn’t have to be tonight. It could be whenever you’re free.”

“I’m not free. Not for you. I might not have a choice in where you get a job or where you live, but I can choose how much of my time, my attention, and my thoughts I give you. And you’ve officially reached your quota of all three.”

“Now who’s the liar?” she whispered.

Eyes narrowing to slits, he stiffened, wanting to deny it.

Instead, he’d have to prove it.

“Stay out of my way,” he said, low and harsh as the front door opened and Verity stepped onto the porch. “Because I’ll for sure be staying out of yours.”

“I really hate to interrupt,” Verity called down to them, “but Bissett’s closes in fifteen minutes. Might want to put a pin in this whole super intense, dramatic, and sexually charged thing you’ve got going on and revisit it at a later time.”

“No need to revisit anything,” he told his sister.

He glanced at Tabitha, hoping she got his message loud and clear.

“We’re done.”

Chapter 16

Sunday dinners weren’t mandatory in the Jennings family.

Miles could’ve said he’d gotten called in to cover for someone at the station.

But he didn’t make excuses. He did what needed to be done, whether he wanted to or not.

And he didn’t lie.

No matter what Tabitha accused.

He stabbed a crisp green bean with the tines of his fork. Then another. And another. He’d meant every word he’d said to her. He was done thinking about her. It didn’t matter that she’d moved to Mount Laurel, was going to be a part of this community.

She’d never be a part of his life again.

Sitting to Miles’s right, Toby, his dark hair pulled back in a stubby knot, leaned toward him. “You okay?”

Stiffening, Miles sent his heavily tattooed brother a sidelong, narrow look. “Fine.”

Toby raised his eyebrows over his hipster glasses, not the least bit affected by Miles’s glare or snappy tone.

Too bad. Miles was itching for a fight.

And he could usually count on Toby to give him one, despite his younger brother’s easy-going attitude.

“Sure about that?” Toby asked, nodding at Miles’s fork.

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