Where We Belong (A Touch of Fate #1)(29)

Laura swallows her food and wipes her mouth. "I need to come by and spend time with you guys. I haven't seen him in forever. I’ll bet he is even more handsome than the last time I saw him."

"Yup,” Harley replies tersely, as she reaches up and wraps a strand of hair around her finger. "He's handsome."

I can't believe I didn't consider this. Of course she's found someone else. Crap. She might even have kids. My eyes snap to her left hand. No ring. Maybe they're just dating. I can feel my happiness from earlier start to dissipate, and I have the sudden urge to get up and leave before I expose my disappointment. I did not prepare myself for this at all. Goddamn, I'm a stupid f*cker.

My chair screeches as I move to stand and Harley quickly does the same, her face filled with worry and something else I can't quite explain. Fear...that's it, she looks kind of afraid. I don't know what she'd be scared about; I'm the one who walked away from her. I can't fault her for moving on with her life.

The weight of that thought slams into my chest and I grip my shirt tightly, trying to stay calm. I divert my eyes and begin picking up our trash and putting it on my tray. I need to get out of here. I need to finish my shift and hightail it home so I can process this. Not that anything has really changed. I still want to rebuild my friendship with Harley, but now I have to make my heart understand that it will never be anything more than friendship.

"Don't leave,” she says, her eyes pleading. Reaching out, she grabs the tray. "We still have..." She looks down at her watch and then back at me. "Twenty minutes."

Laura furrows her brow and glances between Harley and me. Then her face morphs into a look of understanding.

"I should go." Laura shoves the last bite of her lunch into her mouth and takes a drink of water. "I didn't mean to interrupt you guys."

"No. You didn't interrupt anything. Just two old friends having lunch. No big deal," I say awkwardly. "I've gotta get back anyway. Here, I'll take your trays." Reaching down, I grab Harley's tray and then Laura's. I can't help but notice the grin on Laura's face, which catches me slightly off-guard. What the f*ck is she smiling about? Here I am, trying to keep my emotions in check and she's smiling.

"Thanks for lunch," I mumble, walking away without a second glance. I am a f*cking dick. I couldn't even look at her when I walked away. I know she doesn't understand what my problem is, and I know that I'll have to explain it to her at some point, but right now I have to process this.

This is a really hard pill for me to swallow. I may have walked away from Harley five years ago, but I never really left her. My head and my heart have been with her since that horrible night. There hasn’t been a birthday, holiday, or hell, any day that’s gone by that I haven’t thought about her and wondered what she’s doing.

When I came home, I really thought that Levi and Harley still had a thing. But after Levi telling me that wasn't the case, I allowed myself to wander into 'what if' territory. For the first time in five years, I felt my heart come alive at the prospect of making her mine. I was nothing short of excited about the opportunity to reclaim the girl I fell in love with so many years ago.

What I hadn't anticipated was Max. I don't even know him and I already hate him. I hate him because he has what I want. I hope to God he knows what he's got in a woman like Harley and doesn't hurt her the way I did.

No wonder she kept friend-zoning me. Hell, that's probably what she was talking about when she said that there were things she needed to tell me.

Fuck.

Stepping into the lounge, I pull out my phone and dial Levi's number. He answers on the first ring.

"What's up, Ty?"

"You stupid f*cker! You could've told me about Max,” I snap. The line goes silent. His lack of response is not what I anticipated.

"Levi?"

"Yeah, sorry. She told you about Max?" he asks inquisitively.

"No. But you should have the other night. Instead, I had to sit through a conversation between her and Laura about how handsome the bastard is."

"He's not a bastard!" Levi snaps. Whoa, what the f*ck? I can hear him take a deep breath through the phone. "If I ever hear you talk about Max that way again, I swear to God that I will f*cking strangle you." His voice is low and calm but lethal.

Damn, does everybody love Max? "Sorry," I respond flatly. Running my hand over my face, I lean down and rest my elbows on my knees, hanging my head in defeat. "I just...never mind. I gotta go."

"Wait!" Levi pleads. "You just what?"

"I didn't anticipate any competition. You could have warned me." Levi goes silent again, obviously mulling my words around in his head. He's probably wondering when I lost my balls and grew a f*cking *.

"What exactly did Harley tell you about Max?" he asks cautiously.

I take a deep, cleansing breath. "Nothing,” I answer on an exhale. "Her friend, Laura, sat down and asked how he was, and then they started talking about how handsome he is and I bailed."

Levi's boisterous laugh rings through the phone. "This is f*cking hilarious," he gasps. "I can't wait to tell Quinn." I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at it. Hitting ‘end,’ I sever our conversation and lean back in my chair. A minute later my phone beeps.