Page 75 of Frosting and Flames

“Do you think you could ever forgive me?”

“No.” My answer is immediate and instinctual.

He winces, even though he deserves much worse. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

“No.”

“Because you’re with Nick?”

I nearly laugh aloud. “He has nothing to do with it.” Regardless of my dating status, I have no interest in getting back together with Kyle.

“It’s not serious?” he asks, hope in his voice.

In some ways, this thing with Nick feels more serious than anything I ever had with Kyle. Nick is patient and kind and sees me in a way Kyle never did. He uplifts me, rather than drags me down.

When I was with Kyle, it was the Kyle Show and I was along for the ride. With Nick, it already seems like my wants and needs matter more.

Even if he left me tonight.

Hailey pulls up to the curb, and I’ve never been so glad to see her beat-up Civic.

“I have to go.”

He touches my arm. “Could we talk sometime?”

I move away from him and toward the car. “There’s nothing more to say.”

He goes to follow me and his dog whines, stopping him.

Hailey’s looking between me and Kyle with wide eyes when I get in.

“Go,” I say, and thankfully she doesn’t need me to tell her twice before she shifts out of park and takes off down the street.

“What was that about?” she asks.

“Nothing,” I mutter, wanting to forget all about it.

Kyle isn’t a part of my life anymore.

No matter what he thinks.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

NICK

Swearing under my breath, I kick a stray boot out of the hallway and into Tanner’s room. The house is an absolute mess again. You’d think I’d have learned my lesson from the last time I cleaned the place in a mad rush because Rachel was coming over—it’s only been a week after all—but the clutter crept its way back in.

I scrub a hand down my face, a little weary from the twenty-four-hour shift that ended at seven this morning. I got in a solid four-hour nap earlier, but I’m still recovering from Monday night’s prolonged fire, too, which kicked all of our asses. We’d finally gotten it under control, but it had been way too late by the time I got home to even think of calling Rachel. I feel awful for bailing on her like that, but what could I do?

The front door opens and I have a moment of panic that it’s somehow her before I recognize Tanner’s deep baritone humming to himself.

“Hey, man.” He pauses, staring at me. “Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?” He glances behind him, though there’s nothing there. “Am I the ghost?”

I shake my head. “Forget it.”

He shrugs and moves to the kitchen, grabbing a burrito out of the freezer to stick in the microwave. I don’t know why he doesn’t bring lunch with him to work, but he’s always come home for lunch as long as we’ve lived together.

I move around him to tackle the mountain of dishes in the sink. “I’m so screwed,” I mutter. This place is a disaster zone again.

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