Page 56 of That Summer

Lucas stood there, a light scent of racing fuel mixed with cologne tickled her nose. All at once it was familiar and comforting.

She wiped her eyes, hoping he couldn’t tell what she’d been doing moments before.

Feet firmly planted on the weathered carpet, he stood ramrod straight with a clenched jaw.

“You could’ve just come in.”

“It’s not my home.” A hurt tone interlaced into his words. He crossed his arms over his chest and shifted weight to his left leg.

She stepped to the side and gestured for him to come in. There was a moment of hesitation and a hitch in his breathing before he crossed the threshold of the apartment.

“Thank you for coming,” she said. “And for coming in. I don’t need the neighbours to listen in. They already think I’m strange.” The door latched into place. “Would it help if I apologized again?”

“It might.”

She hung her head and stared at his feet. He hadn’t removed his shoes yet, which meant he wasn’t likely to stay. There had to be a way to convince him. They would never work through this if he left now with so much to say.

“I’m sorry. I was confused. And scared. And overwhelmed.” Taking a chance, her gaze travelled up to his face. “I’m sorry for pushing you away.”

“Was I part of your problem?” His head cocked and he thrust his hand into his jeans.

“You weren’t a part of the solution.”

He didn’t move from his spot as he scrutinized her. There was nothing creepy or romantic about it as she suspected she knew what he was doing—searching for any physical damage. “And now? Are you better?”

“Yeah. I think so.” She paused. “Mostly.”

“You don’t sound sure.” He searched again.

A painful sigh escaped her as she leaned against the door. “It’s been a helluva long week. A lonely one.”

Tension built between them as the moments ticked by. They stood, frozen in silence. She had hoped him showing up would mean all was forgiven, but the longer he stood there, the faster that thought dashed away.

“Is there something you wanted from me? Why’d you ask me over?”

“I don’t like how things… umm… ended last Friday. I want to talk about it.”

“Wearetalking.”

“Can we talk in the living room?”

It worked. He kicked off his shoes and made his way over to the sofa, but he never sat down. She followed him, inhaling a huge gulp of air she hoped contained some courage.

Lucas ran his fingers through his hair and shook out his hands. “I need to tell you something. You hurt me. Essentially, you kicked me out.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know you’re having problems with your mom–”

“Let me finish.” His long fingers massaged his temples. “That night, I had big plans. I wanted to see if the broken up trip would work out, and along the way, I was gonna make it a fun evening. I did thatfor you. I refuse to apologize if you read more into it than there was. I had nothing but fun planned, and if you thought it was of a romantic nature, then that’syourproblem.”

“I know.”

His voice was dark. “If you were scared, you should’ve said something instead of pulling into yourself. I thought we were friends. I thought I trusted you.” His voice softened. “I thought you trusted me.”

“I do.” One foot in front of the other, she inched her way over to him. His body still turned away from her, she stopped approaching. “Lucas, something happened that night.”

Be honest with him.

“I started having these feelings…”