Page 95 of The Last Goodbye

“Are you serious?” I stood. “You’ve been distant every time I’ve been around you at the restaurant, and you treat me like a business acquaintance. You didn’t respond to my text—you know, the one where I actually told you that I didn’t regret what happened between us. The one where I told you that I missed you. And what did you give me, Briar? Fucking crickets. Nothing.”

“Did it ever dawn on you that maybe I’m terrified about what happened? I was honest with you when I said I’ve never done that before.”

“Yes. Of course it did. And I’m the one who told you that it didn’t need to be a one-time thing. That we could continue seeing each other and enjoy the time we have together. But you clearly didn’t like that option, either.” I threw my hands in the air.

She was on her feet now, stalking toward me.

“Do you know what it’s like to lose the only family you have when you’re twenty years old? To say goodbye to everything you know, all within a few months?” Her bottom lip wobbled. I wanted to reach for her, but I knew she needed to get this out, yet the sight of her in pain did something to me, making it difficult not to pull her closer, comfort her. “The way it makes you hesitant to get close to people, because⁠—”

“Because what?” I stepped closer, placing my hands on her shoulders. “Tell me.”

Tears streamed down her face as she looked up at me, and a sharp fucking pain hit me in the center of my chest. “Everyone leaves me. It’s just another goodbye.”

I pulled her against me, wrapping my arms around her. “Goodbye is not the same as someone passing away, Briar.”

She sniffed several times, and I just gave her time to process my words.

And then she tipped her head back and looked at me. Her eyes had red circles around them, and tears streaked down her cheeks. “It still hurts, though. So why would I knowingly put myself in that position?”

I nodded and swiped away the falling tears with my thumb. Seeing this woman in pain was unexplainable. I would’ve done anything to take it away. “Because you can’t stop living because you’re afraid of getting hurt. You lost the two most important people in your life, and what did you do?”

“Found my biological father and exposed myself to even more rejection?” She let out a sound that was a mix between a laugh and a cry, and I smiled at her, shaking my head.

“No. That’s not it, Magpie.” I bent down to get at eye level with her. “You stayed in school and graduated. You went on to law school and graduated. You found family that you hadn’t known about, and you put yourself out there. At the end of the day—you kept living, even after all that loss.”

She nodded, tears still streaming down her pretty face, and I stopped trying to push them away. “I hate that I like you so much,” she managed.

My head tipped back as loud laughter rumbled from deep in my chest. “I hate that I like you so much, too, beautiful.”

And that was the damn truth.

twenty-two

​. . .​

Briar

The sun peeking through the window had me blinking my eyes open, and I stretched my arms over my head. I’d just enjoyed the best night of sleep I’d had in a very long time. I glanced around before shooting to sit upright as I realized that I was on Bass Bennett’s houseboat.

In his bed.

I rubbed my eyes, pulling the covers back and glancing down to see that I was sleeping in one of his tees.

And was that bacon I smelled?

“Hey.” He strolled into the room, shirtless and holding a mug in his hand, my favorite gray joggers slung low on his hips. “Coffee?”

“Thank you,” I said as he handed me the mug, his fingers grazing mine when I took it.

The night was coming back to me. I’d had an emotional meltdown, and he’d listened. We’d stayed up late into the night talking, and I’d slept here.

We hadn’t kissed. We hadn’t had sex.

He’d just held me in his arms, and I’d fallen asleep there.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I feel good.” I took a sip from the mug and sighed. “Sorry about last night.”