Page 45 of Bad Decisions & Back Roads

“No.He didn’t.”

“He was intimidated by you.”

“Perhaps.”I brightened a bit.“What about you?What ever happened to Sydney?I thought you two were serious.”We might’ve talked off and on every few months over the years, but we never broached our love lives.

“We split up last year.With me gone at all hours for work, she got bored and then drifted away after a year.”

“I’m sorry.”I could tell how much it hurt him even thinking back on it.

He shrugged.“You still love him, don’t you?The Hurst brother.”

My eyelids shut as the truth of it pressed against every wall I’d tried to build.“We had a moment last night that changed things.”

Hudson was quiet for a bit before he said, gently, “Maybe it’s best you give it a break.”

Emotion tightened my throat.I reached across the table and took his hand.“I’m sorry I can’t be the person you want.I think what you feel for me is familiarity, maybe even wanting something solid after everything you’ve been through yourself.You deserve honesty from me.”I squeezed his hand.“I don’t know that you and I could ever be romantic.”I squeezed his hand harder.“What I can promise you is that I will show up for you.If you call me in the middle of the night needing help on a case, on the phone or in person, I’ll be there.”

A quiet, almost disbelieving smile crossed his face.“I’ll take it for now.”

ChapterSixteen

TIMOTHY

I pulledacross the street from Gia’s rental house and gripped the steering wheel hard enough my knuckles ached.The porch light glowed warm against the dark, making the whole place look painfully normal.

Mom was putting Sofia to bed for me.I’d lied and told her I had to handle something for work because I couldn’t explain this.I couldn’t tell her why, after everything, I couldn’t keep Gia in my past, despite my determination to compartmentalize my life.Gia still lived under my skin.

I needed closure from Gia in a way I couldn’t seem to reach.Something still sat jagged inside my chest, sharp enough I couldn’t leave it alone.I wanted to fight.Scream.Accuse her of something.I didn’t even know what anymore.Maybe everything.

All I understood was Gia didn’t get to walk away wrapped up in sacrifice and good intentions.She didn’t get to rewrite us into some tragic story where she’d loved me enough to let me go.

I hadn’t been saved.

I’d drowned.

The worst part was she hadn’t stayed long enough to watch it happen.

Right as I reached for the truck door handle to approach her front door, a white truck withCarolina Equineemblazoned across the side turned into her driveway.My hand froze.

Hudson Raynes climbed out, rounded the hood, and opened Gia’s door like it was second nature.

Something cold and fierce slid down my spine.I sat there, motionless, watching.

They came around the truck, and Gia wrapped her arms around him.That wasn’t some quick polite hug, but a full-body hold, tight and lingering.That was the kind of hug that saidyou matter to me.The kind that reflected history, trust, and intimacy.

Then Hudson bent and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

My breath locked up.The pain was slow and final, like something cracked on the inside deep enough that it would never fit back together again.

I was too late to get my goddamned fight with her.Too late for anything with her.

She’d gotten her closure and kept moving right on to somebody else.

Hudson wasn’t a bad person.He would probably be good to her.She deserved a man who would remember to put gas in her truck, sit beside her on bad days without trying to fix everything, and make her laugh when she got too deep in her own head.She deserved someone better than me.

I gripped the steering wheel until my hands shook, then started the truck and pulled away from the curb.

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