Page 46 of Play Me
I get to my feet and follow my friends through the restaurant. My instincts tell me that Gray is behind me, but I don’t look. The hairs on the back of my neck wouldn’t be standing up if he weren’t.
My body tingles with anticipation even though there’s no way to know what he’s going to say. I’m sure he isn’t thrilled that I quit, but I don’t know if he’s angry about it. But if I know one thing about him, it’s that he can switch from hot to cold in two seconds flat.
A man holds the door open for us, and we step into the cool spring evening. We form a small circle on the sidewalk around a giant ball of tension. Audrey tugs her cardigan closer to her body, nibbling the inside of her cheek nervously.
Gray stands to my side, looming over me in his sneakers. He seems bigger out here than he has in our past interactions. There’s scruff on his face, his lips look dry, and I want to remind him to add Celtic salt to his water for hydration, but I don’t. He’s not my problem anymore.
“You guys can go,” I say, pulling my friends into a hug.
“Are you sure?” Gianna asks. “We’ll wait for you. Want us to wait in the car in case we need to dig a very, very large hole tonight?”
Gray sighs in exasperation.
I smile at her. “I’m good. Promise.”
“Call me when you get home,” Audrey says. “Before you play driveway chess. I want to know you made it.”
“I will.”
They turn together and make their way to the parking lot.
The sidewalk feels much emptier without my friends. A couple of strolls down the other side of the road, but our side is vacant. The only sound aside from the occasional car is the soft hum of the music from inside Stupey’s.
I’m alone with Gray, only this time, I don’t want to run. For the first time, I want to hear what he has to say.A man who’s sorry and admitting it?Color me intrigued.
Taking a deep breath, I turn to him. His gaze meets mine immediately.
“Talk.”
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Gray
“I’m sorry,” I say.
It’s the second time I’ve uttered those words to Astrid, and it’s the second time those words don’t seem to matter.
My head’s a fucking mess. I swear I’m hearing every second that passes.Tick, tock. Tick, tock.It’s one beat closer to the end of the day—and the end of my window of opportunity to save this contract.
She gazes down the street with her arms wrapped around her stomach, and I’m honestly surprised she’s still standing here. That gives me an opening, probably the only one I’ll ever get, to convince her that I’m not the total asshole she thinks I am.Even if I question that myself right now.
“I was out of line.” I run a hand roughly over my head. “And I apologize.”
She drags her attention to me as if it’s the last thing she wants to do. When her eyes meet mine, there’s a coolness in them that slams into me. This isn’t just an angry woman—God knows I’ve seen my share of those—but this womanishurt.
Fuck me.
“You don’t like me,” I say, squaring my shoulders to hers. “I can live with that. I don’t really like you either.”
She narrows her eyes, but not quite like she wants to kill me. Or maybe just not as brutally as she usually does.
“But this …thingbetween us,” I say, forging ahead, “it’s gotten out of hand. I regret behaving the way that I have, and it was wrong. There was no reason it needed to get so personal, and I never meant to make you uncomfortable.”
Her chest rises and falls. She pulls back slightly, her posture stiffening. Her gaze flicks toward the ground.
“Renn said?—”
