Page 128 of Sharing Shane

She was silent, watching him with wide, wounded eyes. He hardened his heart to them. She had to hear this, she had to understand this. If they were going to have any sort of a chance at a future together, she had to.

“You had no right to call off my date with Wyatt.”

“That’s not what this is.”

He didn’t believe her. “It’s not.”

“Of course not,” she said. “Wyatt’s still coming over, I didn’t tell him not to.”

“So then this is what, you horning your way into being included?” He shook his head while she blinked at him with fresh shock. “That’s not okay either, Veronica.”

She shook her head and drew in a deep breath. “You don’t understand,” she began, then stopped when he held up a hand.

“No, you don’t understand. My time with Wyatt is important. You don’t get to just poke your way in whenever you’re feeling lonely or horny or whatever this is.”

“I’m not lonely or horny,” she protested, a hint of anger breaking through the shock. “You think this is me angling for another threesome or something?”

“Is it?” he asked. “Or is it you trying to edge Wyatt out?”

“I would never do that,” she said, and the utter conviction in her voice gave him pause. “I know how important Wyatt is to you, and I’m not trying to interfere with that.”

“You can’t prove it by me,” he said bluntly, and she drew back as though he’d slapped her. “He’s a permanent part of my life, and if you can’t accept that, then we have a real problem.”

“I’ve already accepted that,” she said, the words tight with anger, her eyes glittering with hurt. “And the problem is, you don’t believe me.”

She turned on her heel and walked out of the kitchen, and seconds later he heard the front door slam.

He planted his hands on the counter, cursing under his breath and talking himself out of going after her. Dammit, he was right, and if she couldn’t respect his relationship with Wyatt, he needed to know now. He was already in love with her, and if he let her in, let himself believe they could have a future together only to find out later that she couldn’t handle it, he’d never be able to put the pieces of his heart back together again.

He heard the front door open and close again, and his head snapped up, eyes narrowed on the kitchen doorway. Then Wyatt walked in.

“Hey, baby,” he said, leaning in for a kiss. “What’s up with Veronica?”

“Nothing,” Shane muttered, not wanting to get into it. He kissed Wyatt back, letting it soothe some of the ragged edges. “Hi. Missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” Wyatt smiled at him, curiosity in his blue eyes. “Are you sure Veronica’s okay?”

“She’ll be fine,” Shane said and wrapped his arms around Wyatt. “How was your day?”

“Chaos,” Wyatt said with a sigh. “They switched over to the new computer system over the weekend, so of course nothing is working right. Things that should take two seconds to chart are taking ten minutes, and the pharmacy was backed up to hell and gone because the automatic med dispensers went on lockdown, and nobody could figure out how to fix them.”

“Sorry, babe.”

“It’s okay. They’ll get it worked out. But right now, thank God, it’s not my problem. You hungry?”

“Starving,” Shane admitted. His stomach had been rumbling ever since Veronica had unpacked the calzone. “I don’t know what you have planned for dinner, but I’ve got a calzone from Mama Luke’s I’m happy to split with you.”

Wyatt shot him a confused look. “What do you mean, you don’t know what I have planned for dinner?”

“You said in your text that I shouldn’t cook.”

“Yeah, because I didn’t want you to start making something before Veronica could get here.”

Shane jerked back, his eyes flying to Wyatt’s face. “What did you say?”

“I didn’t want you to start making something before Veronica could get here,” Wyatt repeated. “I wasn’t sure what time she’d make it over. What’s wrong with you?”

Shane stared at him. “You knew she was coming by?”

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