Page 35 of On a Fault Line

I’ve definitely not seen him this stern since unofficially moving into his place.

We get into the elevator where it’s just us. My hand reaches down to try to touch his, and he dodges by placing it in his pocket.

“Why are you so tense?”

“I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?”

“Stuff, Penelope.”

“Stuff,” I repeat. “Care to enlighten me?”

“No.”

“Does thisstuffinvolve me?”

“Please, Penny, let’s not do this right now.”

“What am I doing?”

Silence.

It’s then that I realize I am being shut out—emotionally and physically—and I can’t decide which is worse.

Removing the safety net of his apartment reinforces the reality that outside of those walls, we don’t exist.

I go back to just being Penny, and Collins goes back to closing me out of his life.

He might have a lot of things on his mind, but my feelings aren’t any of them.

I feel demoted from my princess status.

The quiet between us festers as we go through the motions of making our way to the parking garage.

Once we are inside the confines of his car, the awkwardness continues and I start thinking that the short drive will feel like it has tripled in distance.

Maybe I’m in a mood too or perhaps just hungry.

He starts the engine and navigates us out of the garage with ease.

“Collins?”

“Hmm?”

“Can we go to the Rose City Cafe first?” Maybe I’ll actually be able to try out the food there, as the last time we left in such a hurry before we could order.

“Why?” he snaps.

I roll my eyes—and not in the cute way. He’s being straight-up cold. “Never mind.”

Forcing my attention to look out the window, I try to drown out the toxic energy seeping onto my side of the vehicle. This is going to be the longest ride in the history of rides to get to my sister-in-law’s place.

But then Collins swings into a street parking spot, cuts the engine, and is already at my side of the vehicle before I realize that we are in front of the little cafe.

I take his offered hand, but it doesn’t feel like any of the other times he’s presented it to me. This time it feels cold.

I’m the job.

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