Page 27 of The Probability of Us

I cough out a laugh. “What?”

He grabs a stack of napkins as the water and beers get set in front of us. He hands over his card, then says, “Come on, jacket off.”

When I don’t move fast enough, he reaches out and unbuttons the blazer, gently sliding it off my shoulders, and my traitorous heart starts racing. After dipping the napkins in the water, he starts to wipe the liquor off my arms then lightly dabs at my chin and cheeks.

Our eyes meet and he keeps slowly dabbing, but without reason now. I lift my hand to his and squeeze. “Thank you.”

“And here take this.” He slides his own blazer off his shoulders and holds it for me to slip into.

I hope he doesn’t catch the sharp intake of breath that slips through at the sight of him in just the fitted button-up. I turn quickly so he doesn’t catch the color in my cheeks and slip into the suit jacket. I take a deep breath of it, savoring the smell of him I’ve been missing before turning back around. His hands move to the lapels, and he pulls it snug around me.

“It smells good,” I say. “It smells like you.”

He smiles but then his eyes rove over my face and rage builds in them. His hands tighten on the jacket. “What isthat?”

I tilt my head, unsure of what he’s asking about until his hand reaches for my cheek and I remember the layers of makeup that covered the cut. The layers that must’ve gotten wiped away by the water and the napkins.

“It’s nothing.” I turn away and look down. “I’m going to use the restroom. I’ll be back at the table in a second.”

He almost doesn’t let me go, but I grab my purse and walk away. Shame creeps up my face and shows itself as red on my cheeks. I’m almost certain he only let me go because we just got here and by my reaction, he could tell there’s a lot to this story, and there’s no way he’s going to let this be for long—not with how angry he is. But what do I say? The truth requires a lot of background explanation that’s heavy for day three of reconnecting.

The cut doesn’t hurt so bad anymore, but it doesn’t look pretty. It was deeper than I originally thought so there’s a small scab that formed, and there’s a bright red ring of skin surrounding it. It looks more severe than it is; it’s not a big deal.

After adding new layers of makeup to cover the evidence of last night’s disaster, I head back out and smile when I find Ali, Trent, Sterling, and Warren all laughing together.

“Hey, guys,” I say as I approach. “Sorry about that, I guess someone didn’t like the color of my jacket.”

Ali looks conflicted about Warren’s jacket on me, and my jacket on the back of his chair. I discreetly shake my head at her.It’s nothing.But it’s definitely not nothing—not to me. Trent and Sterling both look unsure how to act with the two of us in the same room again—Ali must not have told them what she knew—and when Warren pulls out the chair beside him for me, they look between themselves.

“In case this hasn’t been covered yet,” I say, breaking the silence first, “Warren is the CFO of Vitality. I didn’t know he was coming. We’re working together, but he goes back to D.C. in a week and a half. So, let’s stop being weird about it now.”

Sterling laughs, his body relaxing, and guilt rolls through me realizing he’s probably relieved I’m not going to break down and cry even though I’m nowhere near drunk enough to reach that stage even on a bad day. I owe them a lot for putting up with me and taking care of me on those nights. I’ve been such a mess, but they loved me just the same.

“What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall in your meetings,” Sterling adds, still chuckling. While the others are still deciding how to handle this, Sterling pulls us all easily into smiles. “When you two were on the same side it was a deadly combination, but on opposite sides? That has to be entertaining for everyone else.”

The corner of my lip pulls up as Warren laughs and answers, “She ripped me to shreds in a meeting the other day.”

“Yeah, because your proposal makes no sense at all,” I say immediately, and catch Ali laughing under her breath.

“Maybe from your side,” he adds, turning to look at me. A lighthearted smile is still present on his face. This is why things worked so well between us—we could leave work at work. If we ever disagreed about something work related, it never transferred to a personal fight. In fact, I always suspected he liked it. The more heated things got in a meeting, the hotter the passion in the bedroom became.

“What about the side where all the work Transcend has done to further value-based care and create an environment where providers and patients can thrive will be undone by this decision?” I ask, and for the first time in this conversation, his smile falls away.

“Well, shit.” He runs a hand through his hair and takes a long sip of his drink. “When you put it like that, I feel like an ass for even suggesting it.”

“You should,” I add, trying to act serious, but a teasing smile is creeping on my face. Ali and Sterling can’t hold it back and laughs sputter out. Warren’s smile is back too. “I told you I’d fight for what was best for my company, and it definitely isn’t your plan.”

“Don’t worry,” he says, softly, fondly,sweetly, and my eyes widen when they meet his. “You eviscerated my plan so completely that after you left yesterday Peter told me to focus on helping you find a solution while we’re here.”

I’m trapped in his stare and the emotions I find there—emotions I’ve told myself for so long that he couldn’t still feel. Sterling clears his throat dramatically and I blink rapidly as I turn back to the group. I don’t know what I feel right now, what I want. This whole situation is not what I expected it to be, yet our connection is still what it’s always been. He’s still everything I never stopped loving, and he’s still leaving again next week.

I don’t know where that leaves me.

“Enough about work.” I smile, but it’s not as natural as it should be.

Sterling leads us to a new topic and as conversation picks up, everyone seems like they’re growing comfortable with Warren being back—everyone except Trent. He still wears a frown and looks between us with trepidation. I narrow my eyes at him in question and he looks away. I glance at Ali and she just shrugs. Trent was closest with Warren; I expected him to be happiest that he was back.

Did something happen between them after we broke up?

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