Ryan paled. Whatever he’d been expecting to hear, it hadn’t been that. “You did what?”
“You heard me,” I grunted. “The night we broke up, Max and I got into it.”
“I don’t believe you.” Ryan sat back in his seat, stunned. “You and Max never fight.”
I laughed bitterly. “That might’ve been true once, but not now. Our friendship hasn’t been the same since we both lost something we cared about.”
Ryan’s throat bobbed. “Guess he’s not thrilled about you coming here to try and win me back.”
“He’s not, but not for the reason you think,” I said. Ryan’s eyes met mine at that, full of confusion. “Max tried to get me to stay away because he didn’t want you to get hurt again.”
“Sure.” The amount of sarcasm he managed to load into one syllable was honestly impressive.
“It’s true,” I insisted. “When I said we both lost something that night, I meant we lost the same thing. You. We both lost you.”
“Bullshit.”
“Max misses you. He regrets what happened almost as much as I do.”
Ryan gave a hollow laugh. “Christ, I can’t believe I almost bought it.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”
“I might be able to accept that you were acting out of a misguided sense of duty.” Ryan shoved his chair back. “I might even be able to accept the silence from you as needing to grow up. But what I can’t accept?That Max feelsanysense of guilt.”
He got to his feet, glaring down at me witheringly. “Here you are, still fighting Max’s battles for him. Do us both a favour, Dom, and go after him. It’s clearly him you want. He’s all you’ve ever wanted. I’m not being a pawn in whatever fucked-up game you’ve got going on. Not again.”
With that, he turned on his heel and strode out of the restaurant.Shit.
Scrambling to my feet, I hastily threw a few notes on the table to cover our drinks before sprinting after him. “Shadow, wait.”
I caught up to him outside the restaurant, a few feet from his car. To my utter shock, he was holding a lighter up to a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Disbelief filled me as I strode over and snatched it from him. “What the fuck is this?”
“Fuck off, Dominic,” he snarled, taking it back.
“I can’t believe you’re smoking.” I watched in horror as he lit it and took a drag. “Seriously? I stopped smoking because you hated it.”
He took another drag, looking me dead in the eye. “Yeah? Well I started because you broke my heart.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed my chest. This was somuch harder than I’d ever thought it would be. With anyone else, I’d turn and walk away.
But this was Ryan. My Shadow. I’d made him a promise.
And nothing was going to stop me seeing it through.
When I opened my eyes, Ryan was searching his pocket for his keys.
“I’m not done.”
“Well I am,” he said curtly. “You’ve said your piece. I’m done letting you hurt me, Dom.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to do.” I slid between him and the car, holding the door shut with my body. “Please, Ry. Just one more minute.”
His eyes flicked over my face before something seemed to fracture in them. “One minute. Then I’m gone.”
“I’m not in love with Max,” I said immediately. “I’ve never been in love with him. I’ve never wanted him. He’s my friend. That’s all he’s ever been. After how he interfered between us, he’s damned lucky to still have that title, and he knows it.”