Page 378 of Not Over You

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

Silence fell. This was his opportunity to ask about her relationship status, whether she was still with that guy she’d dumped him for. She wasn’t married. No ring. Although these days that didn’t mean anything. He opened his mouth to ask her, but she spoke first.

“I told Mom and Dad I’d seen you.”

He smiled. “Are they still the coolest parents on the planet?”

Chuckling, she nodded. “Challenged only by yours.”

“We were lucky, I guess.”

“Yes, we were. In so many ways.”

Countless emotions swam in her eyes, all melding into one another, making identification impossible. He picked up his coffee, but his hands shook, and hot liquid sloshed over the sides. He reached for the napkin box at the same time as Lori. Their fingers brushed.

“Sorry.” She went to withdraw.

He captured her hand, squeezing her fingers. “I wish you’d never gone to India. I wish you hadn’t cheated on me. I wish things had been different.”

“Zane.” Her face crumpled. “Please, don’t.”

“Are you still with him? The guy you dumped me for?”

She flinched and averted her gaze as she ran her fingernail along a scratch in the table.

“No,” she murmured. “It didn’t last very long.”

“And yet you never reached out to me.”

Her chin came up, defiance tinged with sorrow. “Would you have taken me back?”

“In a heartbeat.”

She blanched, her palm coming up and pressing to her chest. “A heartbeat,” she murmured.

For a split second she appeared to lose herself in a memory, and then she recovered, shaking her head.

“I wouldn’t have deserved it. Not after the way I treated you.”

“We don’t always get what we deserve.”

“I suppose not.”

Lori stared out the window. Zane stared at the baristas busying themselves with the never-ending line of customers. He rubbed at the ache in his chest. Once, he and Lori had been so close, they’d finished each other’s sentences. And now—

“Could I take you out sometime?” he blurted. “This weekend, maybe. If you’re free.”

“Zane, I—”

“Unless you’re seeing someone, that is.”

She nibbled on her lip, eye contact dropping. “I’m not seeing anyone,” she whispered. “And I’d love to.”

CHAPTER 10

Lori shook out her tingling fingers as she paced across the linoleum, gripping on to a mug of coffee as if it were a life vest. Her emotions had been all over the place since she’d reconnected with Zane the day before yesterday, and the two of them had shared several texts since then, arranging their date for today.

---