Page 23 of Break Away
I swallowed. “And you had the chance to hear my explanation.”
“I heard enough.”
“You heard the worst thing I said while panicking and built yourself a church around it.”
His laugh held no humor. “Don’t rewrite that night for me.”
“I’m not rewriting it. I’m trying to tell you there was more than you in the room.”
“You knew the one thing I needed to hear.”
The breath left me slowly. He meant love, and we both knew it.
I could feel Bliss watching me, probably silently begging me to say it now. To say something brave and soft enough to tear this whole awful moment open and let the truth bleed out where everyone could see it.
Easton’s face was closed, and I had already learned what happened when he handed me something breakable and I shattered it.
So I smiled, even though it hurt. “Your water is on the bar, Wade.”
His hand tightened around the glass. “Thanks, Clarke.”
Gage cleared his throat beside us, either brave or stupid enough to try to ease the moment. “So, about those wings.”
Easton’s eyes slid toward him again, and the temperature changed.
I stepped between that look and Gage before I could decide whether it was smart. “Mouth Guard Meltdown, Sin Bin Sucker Punch, or Penalty Box Psychosis?”
Gage glanced at Easton, then back at me. “I’ll take the one that burns the hottest.”
“Confident choice.”
“I like pain.”
“Then you’ll love our kitchen.”
Briggs slapped the bar. “I want hot wings too, but make mine with the sauce so hot it hurts my feelings.”
Bliss grabbed a ticket pad. “That’s all of them.”
“Rude,” Briggs said. “Fair, but rude.”
The group loosened around us because Briggs was a human crowbar when the room locked up. Laughter returned in uneven bursts. Rider ordered, Cade stayed close to Bliss while his attention kept cutting toward Easton, and Ryan watched me like he could tell I was holding myself together with eyeliner and spite. Charm sat very still, her beautiful face tight with worry she was too polite to throw across the bar in public.
Easton moved down to stand near Cade, but he didn’t leave. That was the problem. He stayed in my orbit, detached, furious, and too aware while I took orders, carried trays, flirted with customers who didn’t matter, and pretended every cell in my body wasn’t aimed at him like a compass with a death wish.
Gage caught me near the end of the bar ten minutes later while I entered orders into the screen.
“You okay?” he asked.
I gave him a look. “Do I look like a woman who appreciates that question?”
“You look like a woman who might stab me for asking.”
“Then your survival instincts are developing nicely.”
His smile was softer this time. “I didn’t know you and Wade had…”
“Don’t finish that sentence unless you’re insured.”
