Page 83 of Fierce-Matt
“And me leaving you on the floor alone.”
“Don’t remind me,” he said. “I got my ass handed to me by Ben over it.”
“Hurts, doesn’t it, when people laugh at you over what someone else did?”
He heaved out a sigh. “Yes. And I’m sorry for all those times I did that to you and didn’t know.”
“I didn’t mean to bring up the past and shouldn’t have.”
“It’s part of our story,” he said. “We can’t ignore it.”
“We can’t,” she said. “But it shouldn’t impact our future.”
Or she didn’t want it to.
Easier said than done.
“We can try,” he said. “I called Phoebe when you were out. I was going to bring up my parents’ conversation too, but you had to leave and then I forgot until you brought up Jolene. It ties together.”
“You think your parents know it’s me? Or that you’re dating someone?”
“That it’s you. Now for certain they know it if Jolene is aware you went to Carowinds. What are the chances both of us were there during the week?”
“Slim,” she said. “Now what? Are you telling your parents?”
“I should. Phoebe knows. She won’t say anything just yet, but I don’t want her to feel as if she has to watch her words either.”
“I can tell my mother,” she said. “My father is a toss-up. He might remember it or not. I don’t want to confuse things. He knows you as our attorney now and it’s best to leave it that way.”
“You know them best,” he said.
He reached for her and pulled her in for a hug. “I want you to tell me if I do or say anything over the line. If I hurt you or you’re upset.”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I will. I haven’t held back in the past few months, have I?”
“No.”
“Then don’t worry I will now.”
23
THE BEST THING
“You should take the offer,” Anya said to her mother on Monday night.
She had hoped Sally and Paula would come through and they had.
Calvin sent the offer over at two this afternoon.
He texted her at two-thirty, then again at three. The next one at four pissed her off.
Her father had a doctor’s appointment and her parents weren’t reachable.
She’d told Calvin she’d present the offer to her parents and get back to him when a decision was made.
She didn’t play games like he did and she would not be pushed around.
“I have no intention of not taking it,” her mother said. “It’s over asking. But your father is napping and I don’t want to wake him. He might sleep the rest of the night and it’s best to present this to him when he’s got a clear mind.”
