Page 30 of One Last Rainy Day
“He’ll be back,” I warn, “and she’ll let him in while you’re working. When that happens,text me.”
She nods half a dozen times, her expression filled with gratitude. “Okay. I will. Thank you. Really, I’m sorry—”
“You knowheisn’t the problem, right?” I tell her.
“I do, but she’s the only family I have, even if she’s a nightmare.”
“I can relate.”
Sean chuckles at my reply—one of the rare few who gets the joke as Ginger eyes me in a way I used to welcome when in need of a distraction. I can read her invitation before she voices it. “Do you want to come in?” She looks between me and Sean. “Uh, both of you? I’ve got some beer.”
“I’ve got shit to do,” I tell her. She nods, expecting the answer I gave.
“Okay, well, I’m around if you change your mind.”
“Text me if he comes back.” I turn and stalk toward my car.
“Night, Sean. Thank you.”
“No problem, Ginger, see you,” Sean says before catching up with me.
“She grew up a stunner, didn’t she? Your first crush in junior high.”
I don’t take his bait as he continues, trailing me to my Camaro.
“Something tells me this favor was sentimental in nature, but you always did have a thing for redheads.”
“I grew out of her a long fucking time ago,” I tell himhonestly. What I don’t say is that I grew out of this town after my freshman year in Boston. Coming back hasn’t at all felt like a homecoming. Years out of Triple Falls did exactly what my brother predicted it would do. It boosted my ambition to a different level—pivoting my aspirations on a much bigger scale—which only adds to my unrest. If Tyler feels the same after his years away, he doesn’t voice it. Aside from his few trips during my college years, Triple Falls is all Sean has ever known. But if given the choice, I don’t think he’d ever venture too far away from the county line. This town is in his blood. I don’t fault him for it, but it distances us a little in mindset, which only adds to the growing gap between us. “I didn’t need you playing good cop. I had it fucking handled.”
“Then why did you call me here?” A question he answers for himself. “We both know if he had fifty more pounds on him, this would have been a shit show. You have got to get a handle on whatever is festering inside you. And if it’s Cecelia—”
“It’s not. I’ve made my decision. We’re moving forward.”
“You sure, man?”
Gripping my door handle, I glance over at him. “Whatever it takes.”
Chapter Fifteen
“GET THAT ASSHOLEout of my pool,” Cecelia orders Sean from the lounger they’ve been bickering on since we got here.
I press my lips together.
Sorry, mouse, the water feels too fucking good.
Sun-drenched and weightless for the first time in fuck knows how long, I crack open my beer and survey the yard. Tyler makes quick work of unpacking our cooler as Cecelia gives Sean hell for not having her back during our little showdown.
“Tell me you didn’t miss me,” he prompts, crowding her on the chair.
“Irrelevant. If I can’t trust you to have my back when I need you, what’s the point?”
Doing my best to drown out their drama, it’s Sean’s last confession that has my ears perking back up. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but I don’t know what that is when it comes to you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, for both our sakes, I should probably leave you alone, but I’m not fucking going to.”
There it is—the truth he refuses to spare either of us as he kisses her to drill his point home. As I thought, he’s been fighting himself when it comes to her—while I’ve made a firm decision the predicament will remain his and hisalone. Tipping my beer, I survey the sparkling pool and surrounding grounds while I tune in on their back and forth.
