Rushed (Adventures in Love #1)(53)

“I’ll try that then, and a Coke if you’ve got it,” I say, and Mr. Brew jots down our order, saying it will be a few minutes. While our sandwiches are being made, we take our drinks to a small table in the back away from everyone and take a seat.

“Sorry about that.”

“About what?” I ask, watching her mix extra sugar into her coffee.

“Him bringing up Galvin.” She chews the inside of her cheek. “I think it’s weirder for everyone else than it is for me that we aren’t together anymore.”

“You were together a long time.”

“Yeah,” she agrees with a sigh, dropping her eyes to her drink.

“Are you going to talk to him?”

“I don’t know.” She lifts her head and locks her gaze on mine. “I don’t think we have anything to talk about, and I don’t need him to apologize again. Everything is done. I just want to move forward, you know?”

“I get that.” I reach across the table and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Do you have any advice on how to deal with an ex?”

“No, I’ve never had an ex to deal with,” I say, and she blinks at me, looking stunned.

“You’ve never had a girlfriend?”

“I never had the time or the inclination to pursue anyone until you showed up. You’re the first woman who’s made me want more.”

“You’re being serious.” Her eyes scan mine as she shakes her head. “Sorry, it’s just hard to believe, because you’re you.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re, like . . . the whole package. You’re sweet, considerate, super hot, and handy,” she says, listing my attributes, and I grin at the word hot, which makes her roll her eyes. “Okay, so maybe you’re also arrogant, which isn’t a great quality to have, but the fact that you could survive in the great outdoors would make up for that if zombies or aliens showed up or something.”

“Good to know I’d be useful.” I laugh and rub the area over my heart that feels funny hearing her talk about me, and she smiles.

“You’re more than just useful, and I’m seriously lucky,” she says quietly, and just like that, my decision to sell my part of Live Life Adventures is reinforced, because fuck me if there aren’t some things in life that are more important than making money, and one of those things is sitting across from me.





Chapter 20


CYBIL

As I blink my eyes open, it takes a moment for them to adjust to the dark and for my mind to remind me of where I am. Home, only for some reason, it doesn’t quite feel like home. I miss Tanner’s bed and his house. The only thing that makes being here feel right is that he’s here with me.

Unsure what woke me, I reach over to grab my cell, wanting to check the time. My guess is it’s early, since it’s still dark, but the almost-nonexistent windows in my room and the trees surrounding my house have a tendency to play tricks on you. When I see it’s almost three in the morning, I sigh, and Tanner’s arm around my waist tightens.

“Are you awake?”

I wait for him to answer, and when he doesn’t, I carefully move his arm and maneuver myself off the bed, grabbing a sweater on the way out, since there’s a chill in the air, and all I have on is a pair of panties and a thin camisole. After I step out of the room, I carefully shut the door and head down the hall, passing the spare bedroom that I turned into a closet and my tiny office. Since my house isn’t actually a house but a small single-wide trailer, it takes mere seconds to reach the kitchen.

After turning on the light over the stove, I grab a glass from the cupboard and get the filtered water from the fridge, filling my glass before guzzling it down and filling it back up. I take my second glass to the door and pull the curtain aside to look across the yard at my shop, the steel building that’s three times bigger than my house and the main reason I bought this property, the other being that I’m over a quarter mile from my nearest neighbor.

If I wasn’t worried about Tanner waking up and wondering where I went, I would go over there, find some fabric, and start up my sewing machine to help clear my head. Today, or I guess it was yesterday, was mentally exhausting, especially seeing Maisie in the hospital, completely out of it.

“Hey.” Tanner’s sleepy voice startles me, and I jump slightly, turning to look at him over my shoulder as his arms wrap around my middle.

“You scared me.”

“Sorry.” His lips touch the space between my neck and shoulder, sending a shiver down my spine. “What woke you up?”

“I don’t know,” I say quietly, letting the curtain fall back into place. “I think it’s a little of everything—Maisie being in the hospital, and just being back here.”

“Being back here?” He turns me to face him and smooths my hair back over my shoulder; then his thumb slides back and forth across my jaw. The contact sends tingles across my skin.

“I don’t know; it feels strange. But nothing here has changed except me. I don’t feel like the same person I was when I left. Does that make sense?”

“I think a lot happened while you were gone, so I can understand why you’d feel different.” His hand slips back to my nape, and he squeezes while saying softly, “I also think it’s going to take time for people to see that being with Galvin didn’t define who you are.”