Page 97 of For The Weekend
The idea kills me.
Actually stops my heart.
My broken fucking heart.
“Here.” I shrug, taking off his coat before I can think twice or he can stop me. I hold it out to him, and even though I have trouble keeping his gaze, I can feel it on me. He’s slow to accept the coat, and I shake it at him. Silently begging him.
Please, don’t make it hurt worse.
When he finally accepts it, his fingertips brush mine, and it’s amazing how that tiny touch ricochets through me.
Maybe because I fear it’s the last one I’ll ever have.
“I think…” His voice is rough, and he pauses for a second before continuing. “I think maybe we need some time. To think.”
I nod even as my heart cracks further. He’s right. We both need space to process this. But the idea of not seeing him, not talking to him, feels unbearable.
Still, I force myself to say, “Yeah. That’s probably for the best.”
Another endless moment passes, and I force my eyes up to his. They’re red-rimmed. He seems to be on the verge of speaking, his lips parting then pressing together again. But whatever it is remains locked away.
Better for it. I’m not sure I’d be able to handle it without completely crumbling.
I gesture vaguely behind me. “I’ve, uh…gotta get back.”
He nods but keeps quiet, and it takes me much longer than I’d like to admit to turn away from him. At the back door to Sweet Cheeks, I chance a glance over my shoulder to find him glaring at the ground, mouth moving in words I can’t hear, and there is one part of me that wants to go back to him, comfort him.
Yet there is another, bigger part of me that’s finally breaking through the wall of keeping the peace. That voice is telling me to stop being a doormat. To hold my ground and speak up for what I want and demand to be treated with respect.
I just hate the voice only showed up now. When it came with a cost.
Chapter 28
Roman
I’ve been avoiding Aster Street for the last three days, but Mazie was invited to a birthday party, and she insisted we go to Chapter and Verse because the birthday girl loves unicorns and wehaveto buy her a Kitty-Corn book. So, like the total coward I am, I park on the opposite side of Sweet Cheeks and drag Mazie into the bookstore, hoping I don’t run into anyone.
Of course, that could never happen.
Nicole isn’t behind the counter, but Clara and Marianne are there, browsing around the bookshop, and as soon as my daughter runs inside, they light up, opening their arms for hugs. They might not be biologically related, but they are part of the extended Stone family, regardless, and Mazie has become the apple of everyone’s eye. Including Taryn’s best friend and her irritatingly nosy wife.
“Hello, handsome,” Clara says, gazing at me like I’m a kicked dog. “How ya doing?”
“Fine,” I grumble, and she places her hand on my arm.
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
She laughs at me as Marianne slips her arm around Clara’s shoulders. “We heard what happened with you and Eloise.”
I wrench back. “What do you mean, you heard what happened with me and Eloise?”
“That you two got into a fight.”
I scrub my hand over my face. “How? How do you know?”
Clara tips her head, in the direction of Sweet Cheeks, sitting right on the other side of Stone Ink. “She’s been an absolute bear.”
