And the way he looked back.
Yeah. Okay. I was jealous.
Fine.
I’ll own that.
Possessive, too. Which is not my usual thing.
And it pissed me off because it felt unfair.
We said we’d keep things clean. No crossing lines with her.
And I’m the only one actually sticking to it.
Reid’s already crossed that line, and Tal… yeah, I’m not blind.
It’s not like I don’t respect her choices. I do. If that’s what makes her happy, then fine.
But it’s not fair if I’m the one holding back. The one forcing myself to stay in my lane. Every damn day. Ignoring how she looks at me. Ignoring what I want to do about it.
Touch her. Kiss her.
Yeah. Not helping.
I grip the wheel harder, jaw tight, swerving to narrowly avoid the ditch as I round a bend.
Point is, I’m not usually like this.
But something about Sierra brings it out.
My phone starts ringing. I ignore it. Probably Reid. I don’t need that right now.
Hearing from him isn’t going to calm me down. It’ll just wind me up more.
I take a breath, easing off the gas. No point driving like an idiot. The last thing I need is to wreck the truck and make things worse.
Yeah. Plenty of other ways to screw things up.
God, I need a drink.
This isn’t who I’m supposed to be. I’m supposed to be past all this. Supposed to be the calm one. The grounded one.
I should be happy she’s doing better. She’s settling in, making friends, actually enjoying herself.
She doesn’t need me the way she did before. That’s a good thing. So… why does it piss me off? Why am I jealous?
This is exactly why you don’t mix business with pleasure. Because now she’s caught up in my bullshit instead of focusing on her own healing.
She’s probably back there right now, blaming herself for what happened.
I should call her. Tell her it’s not on her.
No. Not now.
Reid… or Key.
I pull into the bar parking lot, apply the handbrake, and grab my phone.