Tumble (Dogwood Lane #1)(27)

The fuse has burned through.

“And that makes it all right, doesn’t it? You didn’t mean to hurt me. Gee, thanks, Dane.” With a heated glare, I cross my arms over my chest. “I bet you were thinking that while you screwed Katie. I bet you were thinking, ‘Boy, I hope this doesn’t hurt Neely.’”

“It wasn’t like that.” He growls. “And you know it.”

“I do? How would I know it?” I shake my head, fury singeing my veins. “Because all I remember is how bad it hurt to know you were—”

“We were broken up!”

“Because you broke up with me!” I shout back. Words pour out of my mouth, each syllable coated with so much pent-up emotion it surprises even me. “I thought we’d get back together. I knew it. I . . . loved you.”

Blinking back tears, I step away.

“I loved you,” he says softly. “I . . . You know, I didn’t . . .” His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. “I didn’t expect for what happened to happen.”

My fists squeeze at my sides as my heart cracks. “You didn’t mean to have a baby with my best friend while we were on a break.”

The words sound wrapped in cotton, but they hit him squarely. His arm flexes like he’s going to reach for me. He doesn’t.

I squeeze my eyes shut to block out the picture of him standing in front of me. All I see is a nineteen-year-old version telling me that my best friend is having his baby followed by visions that have haunted me for so long of him holding a baby that’s not mine. That should’ve been mine. He was mine.

When I open my eyes, he’s in the same spot. Yet somehow, it feels like we’ve been shoved together. The drip of the water echoes through the stillness.

“Neely—”

I hold up a hand. “Like you said the other day, it doesn’t matter.”

“I know,” he says. “It doesn’t. Not really. But I would like to talk it out. Don’t we owe it to ourselves?”

“I owe it to myself to not feel this way anymore.” Running a hand through my hair, I notice the edges are damp from perspiration. “In a couple of days, I’ll be back in New York doing whatever it is I do. You’ll be here playing house or whatever it is you do with Katie and your kid. I mean, if you and she are still talking.” Dropping my hand, I laugh angrily. “Probably not. You probably ruined our relationship for a one-night stand, didn’t you? Good work.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” He cuts the distance between us in half.

“I know enough to know there’s no reason to let you take me home. You made your choices and I made mine. Now we have to live with them, and I’m just fine with that.”

He works his bottom lip between his teeth, absorbing my words. One of his hands claps against the back of his neck as he tries to release some of the stress in his shoulders. Finally, he shrugs. “You know what? You’re right. Everything happens for a reason, Neely.”

It takes everything I have not to fire back at him that I had to sacrifice my happily-ever-after because he decided to give some other woman a piece of him that was supposed to be mine. My tongue is heavy with questions. I want to demand he explain what reason is good enough to account for my suffering. But I don’t. That will only give him more power. And it doesn’t matter.

“Everything happens for a reason, huh?” I ask. “I don’t know what caused you to sleep with Katie, but that’s your problem. I won in the end.”

His eyes darken. “Careful.”

“Careful?” I laugh. “I’m not the one with a reckless history, bud. You got a kid by a woman you barely even knew, really. I got my dream job in the city. I’d say the end result was favorable to me.”

He opens his mouth when someone pounds on the door.

“Hey, Dane. You in there?” Matt asks.

Dane doesn’t look away from me. “What do you want?”

“Haley needs you.”

“Guess it’s a good thing I don’t need a ride home, huh?” I shake my head, knowing he’s going to go with her.

He does. He heads to the door but stops short of opening it. Looking at me over his shoulder, he flips me a look of pity. “Glad you got everything you wanted out of life, Neely.”

The door squeals open, and I take a step toward him. “Dane . . .”

But he’s gone.





CHAPTER TEN

NEELY

The sound of air whirling above my head lures me awake. My eyes open and expect to see the bulletin board across my childhood room that holds some of my gymnastics medals. Instead, there’s a yellow-and-white-striped chair and a window overlooking a tobacco field.

My head pounding, I pop up on my elbows and try to remember where I am. Memories from last night filter through my mind. Matt and Penn singing karaoke. Mr. Mucker telling us it was time to go. Claire helping me to her car.

Dane’s face in the bathroom.

I wince.

A soft knock raps on the white painted door, and it opens with a gentle push. Claire’s head pokes around the corner. “Good morning,” she says. She steps into the room. She’s dressed for the day, her hair and makeup done.

“What time is it?” I ask, stretching my arms overhead.