Page 72 of Encounter

“You’re welcome.”Never had breakfast with anyone here, either...

With my stomach gurgling like after a night of drinking, I tapped the fork on the edge of the plate, pensively studying Galen. He did his best to avoid my gaze, staring at his food instead.

I had to apologize. Or somehow explain why his question yesterday pushed my buttons. It must’ve seemed irrational to him, like it was his fault. “Look,” I finally pushed some words out, “yesterday, I... I was honestlywaytoo horny.” A chuckle escaped my lips. Even Galen noticed how insecure and stupid I sounded, so he finally looked at me through his glasses. “I couldn’t do it for weeks, so I hope you know that... it had nothin’ to do with—”

“Yeah.” Taken back by the sharp and unusually assertive answer, I blinked and leaned into the chair. “I know. I-I get it.”

Did he?

“I didn’t do anythin’ you didn’t want me to, right?”Where is this sudden sense of shame coming from?

“No,” he answered promptly. As Galen sat there, I noticed some sadness seeping into his expression, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of me, or only him and his anxious ideas.

“I know I touched you in the gym unprompted, so I just—” Sighing, I hung my head and tapped my fingers on the table. “I think things are fine as they are. Me helpin’ you and spendin’ time doin’ nothing. So, we should probably keep it that way.”

Fuck—you were the one initiating and now you backtrack.

It took Galen a moment to reply. “You’re right,” he said, quickly turning his attention to his plate again. I couldn’t see his face over his hair—making me worry a little—but there was nothing else I could say.

This was the best for him.

I wanted to tell him it didn’t mean I was pushing him away or hated him, but instead decided to keep my mouth shut before making things even worse.

I wondered if my mind got somehow stuck at the place it was when Lydy died. So many things about that moment felt like everything came to halt... And if I really had a part of me that was my confused, stupid twenty-year-old self, there was no one to blame but me. I did that—by never truly moving on, by never letting go, never having any other serious relationships.

We both ate our breakfast in silence, and I knew that right after Galen left, I was going to need a drink.

?

Swirling the last few drops of the whiskey at the bottom of the glass, I stared at it, like I had been for the past half an hour.

There weren’t many people at the bar, and Gregory was finishing up in the office, so Mia had deal with my insufferable presence instead. “What’s with that long face,lindo?” Resting her hand on her growing belly, she leaned on the bar in front of me after serving all the other customers, giving me a playful smirk.

“You don’t wanna know,” I sighed.

“Surprised you’re not complainin’ about not being able to work. That was gettin’ pretty old,” she said, poking me in the shoulder.

“Told him to not come back if he keeps going on about it.”

We both turned to Gregory as he came toward the bar. He slipped under the bar flip and waltzed to Mia, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her before I even blinked. Grunting discontentedly, I rolled my eyes and drank the rest of the glass while they cooed.

Pursing her lips, she glanced back at me. “Good. I think even the baby was getting sick of it. Kept kickin’ while you were here.”

I grimaced at her. “Ha-ha.”

While Mia passed around me to sit at the bar, Gregory started making her one of those healthy, energizing drinks.Iprobably needed one. “So... What’s that face about?” he asked, watching me studiously. “Your ribs givin’ you trouble?”

“My ribs are fine,” I said, shaking my head. I glanced around the bar. It didn’t really seem like the few people around cared about anything but themselves or what was going on the TV screen. Besides using it for some business dealings and probably to wash some cash from time to time, it was hardly even busy, and Gregory was pretty well acquainted with majority of the regulars.

I felt stupid even thinking about what I was about to say out loud. Unfortunately, I was going wild andneededsomeone to tell me if it was warranted or not. “It’s somethin’ else,” I mumbled, scoffing at the glass as I pushed it toward him.

Mia, who made herself comfortable on the stool next to me—accompanied by her pregnancy scoffs and huffs—shared a wide-eyed look with Gregory.

Passing Mia her concoction, he hesitantly turned around to grab the bottle of whiskey while trying to keep his eyes on me. “Whaddya mean?”

Sensing the intense shift in the mood, I flashed both of them an offended frown. What the hell were they thinking I did? I wasn’t the poster boy for stability or decency, but they looked like they expected the worst.

“Remember that kidnappin’ emergency, couple months back? De Clare?”

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