“Without even a goodbye?” My chest tightens at the memory. “You couldn’t send a letter, Reid?”
“No. I wanted you to hate me. I thought it would make it easier.”
I shrug. “It worked.”
He presses his lips together, holding himself together even as it shows.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “For all of it. How I treated you. How I left. I was wrong. I get why you hate me. You should. But I don’t want that to be the reason you don’t try to heal. I know you think this place is bullshit. I did too. I’m not asking you to believe in it. Just…try it. You don’t have to deal with me. There are other instructors, therapists. You can avoid me completely. I just think it could help you work through some of it.”
I stiffen. I know what he means. “Why does that matter so much to you?”
“Because it does,” he says simply. “And it should matter to you too.”
I bite my lip.
Part of me wants to run.
Another part sees something in him I’ve never seen before—something real. After all, I still have that video to film.
“I’ll think about it,” I say.
He nods. “There’s yoga tonight. Nadia runs it. I think you’ll like her.”
“Great,” I say, and the moment hangs between us. I don’t forgive him. Not yet.
Maybe not even close.
But maybe… maybe I’m ready for a truce.
CHAPTER 16
Talon
Leaves and twigs crunch behind me, and from the sound alone, I know who it is. The steps are too slow and careless to be Reid’s and too heavy to be Sierra’s. None of the other staff would have the nerve to approach me this late, which means it has to be Luke.
He’s also whistling that same annoying tune from earlier. It sounds like something out of a movie, though I wouldn’t know. I’ve been to the cinema maybe ten times in my life, and I don’t use the TV Luke insisted on buying for me.
“Hey, buddy,” Luke says as he stops behind me. “Hard at work or hardly working?”
I don’t respond. I shift the log into place. If I don’t give him anything, maybe he’ll leave.
“Nice,” Luke says anyway as I bring the axe down, splitting the log clean in two. “So, today was fun.”
I grunt, hoping he’ll take it as an answer and go, but I know better. Luke never takes silence as a hint.
In a way, it works. I never have to filter myself around him or worry about my expression scaring him off. That’s part of why we’re still friends.
It also means he doesn’t care how annoyed I am. He’ll keep going anyway.
I expected this. I saw the look he gave me at the restaurant.
I know what that look means.
And as much as I hate it, something dark had already started to spread inside me.
“Sierra is a fascinating woman, isn’t she?” Luke continues. “Smart, sassy, pretty. I like her. I’m guessing you do too, or you would’ve tried harder to get rid of us today.”
I grunt again. “Not like you gave me a choice.”