“Okay.” I didn’t know what else to say, because there wasn’t anything. He could choose to believe me or not, but something told me he already knew the truth and just didn’t want to face it. It was a hell of a lot to take in, I knew that, and so I keptmy mouth shut even though I wanted to refute his words. I wanted to tell him how much he meant to me, how much our time together had changed my life. I wanted him to remember the days he spent laughing with me and the nights he’d spent in my bed. More than anything, I wanted him to knowusagain. To remember the song he played just for me, and to feel him touch me again just because he wanted to be close. But I was already pushing my luck. I’d never expected to be having this conversation with Reid, and the fact that he’d remembered anything at all about our time together was a gift, even if it didn’t feel like one at the moment.
“You’re trying to tell me you were my…” He cursed, unable to say the word.
“Boyfriend?” I suggested. “Lover?”
His eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet. “This is insane.You’reinsane. I don’t think it’s me that’s lost my mind here.” He stumbled past the coffee table, tripping on the rug in his haste to leave.
“Reid, please don’t go. Just stay so we can talk this out?—”
“Pretty sure we’re done with this conversation.”
“Reid—” I followed him down the hallway and caught up with him as he swung open the door. “Wait, please.”
He spun around and held his hand out, and if looks could kill, his eyes would’ve cut me in two. “Get away from me. I don’t want you coming any closer. And I don’t want you to follow me. I mean it. Just leave me alone.”
“You know me, Reid. I’m not the bad guy here. Just let me explain?—”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re wrong. I don’t know you. I don’t even know myself anymore. And more than that, I don’t think I want to.”
Then he backed away before turning and running out of my house—and out of my life. And this time, I had a feeling it was for good.
twenty-six
REID
THE WIND BLEW a soft breeze across my skin where I lay on a blanket in the thick grass, my legs stretched out and my head in Ollie’s lap. He’d wanted to work on some things around the house, small fixes or painting the shutters or something, but I wasn’t letting him get much done today.
“Truth or dare?” I said, and Ollie’s hand stilled where he’d been running his fingers through my hair.
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Truth or dare?”
“I’m a little scared of what you’d make me do if I chose dare, so…truth.”
“Truth it is,” I said, and chewed on my lip as I thought of a question. “Okay, got it. Have you ever been in love?”
He raised a brow. “That’s a loaded question.”
“I’m just curious.”
“What if you don’t like the answer?”
“Ollie…”
“Fine.” He sighed and looked out across the yard as his fingers began to move through my hair again. “Once, a long time ago, I thought I was in love.”
“You ‘thought’? Why do I hear a ‘but’ in there?”
“I’m pretty sure now that it was simply infatuation. Or maybe love on a smaller scale. Like loving the person, but not being in love with them.”
“How do you figure the difference?”
He looked down at me. “Because when someone else comes along and blows away every dream and expectation you ever had, no one else means a damn thing. Past, present, or future.”
My heart swelled to bursting as I asked, “Do you think you could love someone like me?”
He smiled and pushed my hair off my forehead. “Yes. I do.”