Page 6 of Love Unforgettable
I don’t know how to answer that, so I don’t.
“Lex,” he says with a small sigh as he raises his hand to smooth my hair back from my face. God, it would be so easy to lean into his caress. To let his touch smooth away all the angst and stress from the day.
Except that I’m really pissed at him. A fact that I keep forgetting about. So, I don’t let him soothe away the day. Instead I ask him what’s on my mind.
“If I’m so incredible, why didn’t you call? I mean, Trev, there was no note, no email, no text, no nothing. You couldn’t even be bothered to return my calls!” My voice rises to a near shrill level.
Kat chooses that moment to reappear and sits in the empty chair on my other side. “You ghosted her, Trev.” I turn to look at her. “That’s what the kids call it,” she says with a shrug.
“Okay,” he says. “I get where you’d be mad about that.”
“Oh, you get it. I’m so relieved. Thank you so much for the concession.”
He looks at me sharply. “Lex—”
“Trevor, you literally disappeared. Stood me up for a date, cleared your stuff out of my house, and left town. Never to be heard from again.”
“Which is the literal definition of ghosting,” Kat says. I snicker, grateful for the support and levity she brings.
Trevor just keeps talking. “I picked up the phone to call, so many times . . .”
So, I do too. “Fingers broke? Can’t dial a phone? No voice commands available in your car? Cell service was down in all of New York and there were no landlines to be found? And even now, here you are. No grand gesture, no apology cards, nothing. Not even flowers!”
“What is it with you and the grand gesture?” he asks.
“It’s the ultimate display of love.” I lean back in my chair and cross my arms across my chest.
“That’slove?” He cocks his head and raises one eyebrow.
“Didn’t you . . . you know what? Never mind. This is exhausting, Trevor. I don’t want to do this with you. I’ve got two friends in the next room, one fighting for his life, the other barely escaped with hers. I’ve got another friend who is risking his life fighting a fire. Having this discussion, making this an argument, this is dumb.”
“Agreed,” Kat says, standing up. “I need to pee, don’t do anything entertaining until I get back.” She attempts one of her face contorting winks, blows me a kiss, and heads down the hall.
“Look,” Trevor says, his voice softening. “Can we just, can we start over? Please?” He reaches out to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear, the side of his hand caressing my cheek in the process.
This time when he touches me, I shiver. My goddamn body completely betrays me. If the satisfied smile on his face is any indication, he knows it too. That touch almost does me in.
It feels good.
He feels good.
I stand so I can get my distance, nodding as I think this through. “Start over. Yes, we can do that. Friends?” I reach a hand out to him.
“We can’t even hug?” His shakes his head and holds his hands up in the air, moving to approach me. I need to be careful with him. He broke me so completely before, twice before, and he has the power to do it again.
I step back. “Let’s start with the handshake and see where it goes.”
I can do this.
He reaches his hand out to mine and we shake.
He looks from my hand back to my eyes, his brows raised expectantly.
“Starting over,” I say. “It sounds good.”
His face breaks into a smile as his posture relaxes.
“But, Trevor, we need to take it slow. We can’t just jump back into to where we were before you left. The second time.”
