Page 78 of Breaking
Jenna shot him a quick, startled glance. "You have a therapist?"
He nodded, jaw tight. "Not something I went around advertising. But yeah, I do. I told him it feels like I'm pushing a boulder uphill trying to reach you. One step forward, two steps back. He said I should tell you that."
She exhaled, the confession pricking her conscience. "Why do you keep trying?"
A pause. Then, softly, "Because I still love you."
The words hung in the air, raw and unguarded. Jenna stared out the window, the city lights blurring. She remembered all the heartbreak, the cold nights he hadn't come home, the humiliations. Yet she couldn't deny the subtle ache in her chest that whisperedWhat if?" How do you manage the crowd and the noise?" asked Jenna. When Troy gave her a questioning look, Jenna continued, “With your autism and everything...it must be hard."
Troy said, "With practice and earphones. Yes, it is hard but I have had years to condition myself. "
Before she could muster a response, he pulled up to her house. "Thank you for not slamming the metaphorical door in my face at the market," he said, an attempt at a half-smile.
She didn't answer, just nodded and slipped out of the car and into her house.
Chapter 60
Jenna
Two hours later, Grace burst into Jenna's living room like a woman on a mission, brandishing a bottle of suspiciously cheap wine like it was a trophy. "Shoes on, sunshine. We're hitting the pub."
Jenna, who had been mid-wall flowering on the couch, squinted at the bottle. "That looks... radioactive."
"That's the glow of affordability," Grace shot back. "Now hurry up. If you behave, I'll let you try to out-drink me."
Jenna, curled up on the couch with a blanket and whatmighthave been her third cup of tea, arched a sceptical brow. "You think I can't handle it?"
Grace snorted. "Oh, honey. Iknowyou can't."
Jenna sighed dramatically but tossed off the blanket anyway. "Fine. But if I get drunk enough to karaoke, I expect you to physically restrain me."
"No promises," Grace said, already grabbing Jenna's coat.
At the pub, they snagged their usual booth in the corner-far enough from the bar to avoid enthusiastic rugby fans but close enough to the jukebox that they could override any tragic attempts to play Coldplay on repeat. This wasn't their first rodeo here to drink away their sorrows.
Two glasses of wine in, Jenna felt the tension in her shoulders loosen. Grace, of course, took this as a sign to dig for gossip.
"So," she said, swirling her drink, her eyes glinting. "How's the wholeTroy Debacle?"
Jenna groaned, setting her forehead against the table. "He'severywhere. I swear, he's like a cursed coin-no matter where I throw him, he always ends up back in my pocket."
Grace waggled her eyebrows. "Yet... you haven't actually told him to vanish."
Jenna lifted her head just enough to glare at her. "What's your point?"
Grace smirked, all too pleased with herself. "Thatmaybe-justmaybe-a tiny, petty part of you likes knowing he's still sniffing around."
Jenna's wine paused halfway to her lips. "That's ridiculous."
"Isit, though?" Grace drawled. "You don't want him, but you don't want him with anyone else either. Classicdog in the mangerbehaviour."
"That's absurd." Jenna scoffed, sipping her wine.
Grace rested her chin on her hand. "So, if he and Lila suddenly got engaged, you wouldn't care?"
Jenna choked. "Grace!"
Grace grinned triumphantly. "Exactly what I thought."
