Page 85 of Invisible String
My eyes are still on her wrist. “Did you get it to remember us?” My brows jut at the tattoo. Bad fucking question to ask. Her face turns different shades of red. Angry veins pop from her neck. The smart thing to do is to take a step back. I’m not afraid of anyone getting in my face. I’ll size anyone up and fuck them up, but Rainey, this woman, is my weakness and the one person who can oblige me to do anything.
“Remember us? There was never an ‘us.’ This…” She presses on the ink with her finger. “It’s a remembrance of how much I hate you and how you left what we could’ve had. A reminder never to fall for you again.” She shakes her head. “I get it?—”
“Rainey.” My throat constricts. The pain and anger in her voice are a thousand knives to my chest.
“Shut up and let me talk, Max.”
I snap my mouth shut.
“I know you said in the beginning that you didn’t want love or relationships, and that’s on me for falling for you. But I thought we had something. I thought maybe you’d say it at some point.” A small, maimed laugh falls out of her lips. “We spent the whole summer together, tangled in each other’s arms.My father hated the idea of us, and I didn’t give two shits what he thought. Do you know why? Because I loved you, everything about you, even the parts you kept in the dark, because it’s you. I kept you like an oath, and you left me crumbled on the ground without a backward glance. You didn’t want to keep in touch and wanted nothing from what we had.” A lone tear forms and tries to escape, but she catches it before it falls. “God, I told myself I would never shed another tear for you.”
My entire world falls at her feet at her words. My shoulders sag with agony. She lifts her head, staring into my pained eyes. My throat works. I don’t have the right words. She won’t believe me if I tell her how I truly feel, and every secret I have.
“I loved you once. God, I loved you, but that was once upon a time.”
A feathered, cool breeze passes us. Her hair blows under the bright light. I shove my hands in my slacks to keep myself from wrapping her in my arms.
“I know you don’t want to hear it. An apology is not enough. I can sit here and tell you how I truly feel, but you won’t believe it. It’s not what you need. You’re right. What we had was special.” She looks anywhere but at me.
“Give me a chance,tesoro. Give me a chance to make it up to you. To make it all right.”
Her sharp nails dig into my shirt. “You asked if I’d fall in love with you again if we found one another again, and I said no. I. Meant. It.”
She unlocks the door and adds, “I buried us long ago, and I’d like to keep it that way, regardless of how I feel.” The door slams behind her.
A painful breath leaves my lungs. Every aching word echoes in my mind.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
RAINEY
My head throbs as if I drank all night. I only had two, okay, maybe three drinks. It’s enough to give me a hangover, but I personally feel it’s a combination of the drink and Max, which equals a blistering, splitting headache—a two-day hangover. I sit at my office desk at the café, reviewing tomorrow’s orders.
“You know how you yelled at the security guy who installed the cameras weeks ago?” Isabella peeks in with a bright smile on her pretty face.
The thought of the careless assholes pisses me off. Luckily, one employee from the office showed up. A young guy ordered the equipment they broke. “Uhh, don’t even remind me. Is the new mixer here? I’ll have to get the other one repaired, although it’s new.”
Her nose crinkles. “It’s not broken. Turns out we just never plugged it in.” She laughs, shaking her head.
Are we that stupid? No, it can’t be. What the hell?
My head tilts. “Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
“Huh. Well, I guess I’ll call them to cancel the order. I feel dumb.”
“I know. The mixer has already shipped.” She shakes her head. “Your sister is working the register, and I’m done with the last bread I baked.”
“I’ll drop off a check with the company and let them know what happened. It’s only fair.” My head is back to the stack of papers. She pulls a chair out and sits. She crosses her ankles and then uncrosses them.
“What is it?” I ask, flipping through each page.
“How was the gala?” She raises a brow.
I sigh, and my mind returns to the gorgeous man I am pushing hard not to think of. How is it possible he looks so good? The way he danced was breathtaking. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought of Max dancing in a room full of people, twirling me around as if we were onDancing with the Stars. We stared into each other’s eyes romantically. He’s different. I can see it in his eyes. My walls were slipping. I was so close to asking him about his life. What has he been doing? I hated that I felt relieved he wasn’t dating Annette, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t spending time with her like he was with me.
“It was okay…my…” I sigh. I can’t call him ex. “Max was there.”
