Page 18 of The Leaving Road

He flew into the seat so fast I was momentarily stunned, and I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle of surprise.

“I didn’t want to give you the chance to change your mind,” he stated, albeit sheepishly.

“You wanted…” I started as he said, “Look…”

He let out a nervous laugh, and I made an awkward hand gesture to for him to continue, only to be met with nothing but silence

“The thing is, I spent all night thinking about the past and what I would have done differently. Unfortunately for me, technology hasn’t caught up with time travel yet so I can’t go back in time. All I can do is say I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I said those things to Cassie.” A look of blatant disgust crossed his features, but he continued, “I’m sorry I led anyone to believe my mom or I thought you were an obligation. If you take anything away from that, please understand that my momneversaid that; she would have tanned my hide if she ever heard me say that—in fact, I’m sure she will. I wish I could give you an excuse, but that’s exactly what it would be, an excuse. I was thinking of my own selfish needs at the time and completely disregarded you and our friendship. I don’t deserve your forgiveness or your friendship, but I do hope you’ll let meearnit.”I had found myself not making eye contact when he spoke, but I couldn’t resist when he saidearnit.I could have sworn I saw a flicker of desire behind them but shook that thought off almost as soon as it began.

Truth be told, I didn’t know what to make of his speech. I wanted to go home, dissect everything he said, store it away for later, and then make my decision in three to five years once I had the time to fully process everything. Luckily for me, Sloan made it easy for me.

“I don’t need an answer right now; just think about it.” He got up and kissed my cheek like it was something he’d been doing for the last twenty years and floated away while I was struck stupid.

What the hell was that?

Lexie came back with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the coffee carafe in the other.

“Well, shit, babes. I think you might be in trouble.” She giggled.

“I have a date this Friday,” I whispered.

“Shut the front door. That quick, huh?” She looked toward Sloan, whom Momma was currently handing a to-go cup of coffee.

“No, no, not with Sloan… With Lance.”

“Okay, I know I can be a space cadet, but I know I did not miss meeting a whole entire person. Who thefrackis Lance?” She put the coffee carafe on the table between us and sat back down.

“He’s possibly the contractor I’m hiring to help us with the house.” I blushed, thinking about my immediate attraction to him. I could even say the meeting was a little unprofessional at the end, when he tucked a piece of my hair behind my hair and asked me out on Friday. I said yes without a second thought.

“What the hell, babes! Not even here a week, and you have Matt from the bar, Lance the contractor, and Sloan your blast from the past. Where’s my knight in shining armor?” She dramatically started moving the coffee mugs and the sugar caddies. “Just as I suspected, not under here.” Her confused face made both of us erupt in laughter—the silent tears streaming down your face kind.

When we finally got ahold of ourselves, I felt the need to remind Lexie of something. “Sloan shouldn’t be on that list, Lex. He apologized for before, but said he wants my friendship.” I tried to keep my tone steady.

“Friendship?You think that man wantsfriendship?”

I shrugged. “That’s what he said. I don’t have to accept his apology, but he wants toearnmy friendship back. That there is no excuse, just that he was an asshole and eighteen and out of his depth.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s going to want toearnit, alright.” She snickered, but then had a serious look on her face. “How do you feel about what he said?”

“I’d like another eight years to figure that out.”

“Unfortunately for you, in a town this size, I think you’ll have about eight days to figure that out.”

“To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about it. I’m not the same person I was eight years ago, Lex, and it’s unfair of me to assume that he is. My mind is a jumbled mess.”

“I think that’s because you only know half of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“All you know is that your best friend was dating some girl, lied to you about it, and said some really shitty things. And you left before you could hash out the lies from the truths. You never confronted him about it, so all you had to go on was that one nasty conversation that’s been playing over and over in your head.”

She was right; sometimes it was like a movie reel that played on repeat.

“I think you did what was best for you with what you were presented with, but you never got closure.”

“You think I need closure?”

“I think you owe it to yourself to have an honest conversation with him.”

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