Page 114 of Broken Hearts
“What if he isn’t excited to see me?”
“That’s what you’re worried about?”
“I hate surprises. They never go as planned.” Something Elias said earlier keeps replaying in my mind. “Stop. Pull over.”
Mav’s brow furrows but he pulls into a coffeehouse parking lot just off the freeway. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, but I can’t do this.”
“Sie—”
“Not because I’m afraid he doesn’t want to see me.” I turn to face him. “I’m a motherfucking badass.”
Mav’s body shakes with laughter. “Yeah, you are.”
“He asked this one thing of me. I can’t roll up and try to convince him not to do it.”
“What about telling him you love him?”
“I will, but for now, I think I have to believe in what we have. If I show up there, I’m basically proving that I can’t handle whatever life throws at us. I can. I’m strong enough. If he wants to run, that’s on him. But I’m here or I was there. I was strong enough but he wasn’t.”
“I’m not sure I follow,” Mav says.
I open the door, phone in the other hand. “Give me five?”
“Stay. I’ll grab some coffee.”
“Thanks.” I shut the door and Maverick gets out of the vehicle.
I have no idea what I’m going to say, but my finger hovers over Rhett’s number when a text pops up.
Rhett: Hey, angel. Back in MN and have a new phone.
A second one pops up while I’m rereading the first for a third time.
Rhett: This is just something I have to do. I can’t explain it. I know it’s the worst possible timing with school ending, but I can’t come back until I’m sure… Fuck, I don’t even know what I need to be sure of.
Rhett: I’m sure that I miss you.
I type out a dozen responses. I want to tell him how I feel and beg him to come back. Of course, I do. I miss him. But if he doesn’t want to lean on me right now, I can’t force him to.
Me: I miss you too. I get it. Do what you have to do, but I’m here if you need anything.
I power off my phone so I don’t crack and tell him I love him over text message. He’ll come back. He has to.
Mav climbs back into the driver’s seat, hands me a cup, and sets his in the middle console. “Well?”
“I’m sorry that I dragged you fifteen hundred miles from school for nothing, but I have to let him do this his way.”
He nods slowly. “You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“All right.” He slides on his sunglasses. “Wanna meet my new team?”
34
Sienna
