Page 24 of Forever & Always You
Austin glances down at my hand on his arm, my fingers trembling against his skin. “Why did you come by my office yesterday?”
I don’t miss a beat. “To apologize.”
“Apologize to make yourself feel better,” he says, “or apologize because you wanted me back in your life?”
“Both,” I admit. I let go of his arm, my shoulders sinking as I draw a deep breath. “I wanted to say sorry for my mistakes, because I want a clean slate to use as a springboard to getting my life together. But now? Now I want you to forgive me because I miss you, too.”
Austin exhales as the tension visibly leaves his body, and I wonder if he was quite literally holding his breath, praying foran answer that wouldn’t hurt him. He leans against the rear of his car and crosses one foot over the other. I hate it when he’s furious, but I hate it even more when he’s vulnerable.
He contemplates something for a moment, his lower lip between his teeth, and then he asks, “Can I trust you, Gabby?”
“You shouldn’t. Not yet,” I say. My heart pounds in my chest as I try to say all of the right things, because I never want to say the wrong thing to Austin ever again for the rest of my life. “Let me earn it.”
“Then last night’s offer still stands,” he says. “Don’t go back to Durham. Stay with me for the weekend. That gives your property manager a couple more days to fix your plumbing, and it givesmea couple more days to hate you less and miss you more.”
Bigoh.That made me feel funny.
Like, butterflies funny.
And Austin Pierce shouldn’t give me butterflies.
That’s a recent development after seven years apart.
Something feels different.Hefeels different.
And I’d definitely like to spend the weekend with him.
“You’re absolutely sure?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure,” he says, and like the flick of a switch, his features soften and a smile starts to toy at his lips. “Do you have enough clothes packed? Because if not, you’re not driving all the way back to Durham to get some. I’ll take care of it.”
“You wear a size six, too?”
Austin cracks fully now. He laughs and I swear his cheeks blush pink. “You’re funny.”
“I thought we already established that when we were kids.”
Austin pushes off his car, pulling his keys from his back pocket. “Follow me back to my place, and try to keep up.”
“YouknowI can’t keep up,” I groan, then point to my rusted exhaust. “You saw the smoke, right? I think my engine is on theouts.”
“Fine, I’ll be a law-abiding citizen and keep below the speed limits,” he says with an eye roll, then pauses with a hand on his door before he climbs in behind the wheel. His playful expression eases, and his nod is reassuring. “We’ll get your car fixed this weekend, okay? We’ll fix a lot things, Gabrielle.”
Ahhh.
As I climb into my car and place my coffee into the cup holder in the center console, I’m fighting nausea. I’m spending the weekend with Austin. At hishouse. And he hates me, but he misses me.
And Iwillfix things, because I so badly want to be that girl he once adored.
8
If Austin’s successful career wasn’t enough to make me feel like I’m ten steps behind in life, then his house certainly is.
I followed him across the city and into the northern suburbs where I gawked in awe at the gorgeous Tudor-style homes, with their flawless brickwork and overlapping gables, like something out of a fairytale. It’s the kind of neighborhood my mother would approve of, and as I parked my well-loved Prius on the drive next to Austin’s sporty coupé, I had, for the first time in my life, an odd feeling of not belonging.
And maybe that’s how Austin felt his entire childhood, growing up in a neighborhood of homes owned by families with long histories of generational wealth.
“I’m sorry, but what the fuck?” I say in disbelief as Austin lets me step inside the house.
