She let that ring in silence.
“And I can’t go to counseling with an ass,” she explained gently. “I’m sure you see the problem.”
His face went a wash of different shades of red, then white again.
She had a hunch he was finally getting it. Because, God help her, she saw his eyes begin to shine with genuine tears.
“I love you, you know,” he said.
She sighed, closed her eyes briefly, opened them again. “Maybe you do. But when I said we were done, I meant it. Full stop. Please do not ask me about it again.”
He was motionless.
Pity stirred, because despite it all, there was some part of her that always ached for people and their foibles and their weaknesses, even when those weaknesses ended up hurting her.
Mac was in that category.
All she knew was that love was more than whatever she’d had with Corbin. She thought of her parents, and she thought of Morty and Helen Horton strolling along together, and she thought of Mac.
Mac, who even if he couldn’t commit to another human, even if he was poised to run away from her, somehow hadn’t thought twice about putting her safety above his.
Then again, at least Corbin could get those three terrifying words out. So she guessed he had that going for him.
Maybe the next lucky fool he dated would get to hear them, too.
He sighed bleakly. “Can I... at least stay here tonight? I’ll sleep on this sofa. It was three and a half hours between San Francisco and here.”
“Are you kidding me? There’s a motel on I-5 about an hour from here. You’re not going to want to stay at the one nearest here. It’s pretty sketchy. You can try calling the Angel’s Nest but they’re already full up and Rosemary and her husband work hard so I personally wouldn’t be happy about you waking them up.”
“Are you seriously kicking me out at three in the morning? I’ve... I’ve driven three and a half hours to get here.”
“Are you seriously whining right now? Do I need to call Mac and have him march you out of here? Jesus, Corbin. Have some fucking pride.”
She stared him down.
In a huff, he collected his Man Bag and turned around and stalked out.
She locked the door. She watched out the window to make sure he was gone.
And then she watched a little longer just to be on the safe side.
And then a little longer after that.
Even though she had a hunch Mac was watching, too. Whether he wanted to or not. It was just who he was.
While all this was going down, Mac lay as rigid as a board against his scratchy sheets. He felt pinned in place by that faint bar of light thrown down across his torso. But he was as wired as if he’d bolted a six-pack of Red Bull.
The lights were still on out there. Maybe that meant they were still awake.
Maybe they were having a reunion hump.
He flung an arm over his face as if the thought was an assault. He’d consigned the coconut pillow to a far corner of the bed.
In the deepest heart of him, he actually didn’t think that would happen. Avalon was stubborn as hell, she had a lot of pride, and everything she felt went deep. She wasn’t going to just cave.
Andhe,thank you very much, wasverygood in the sack. No woman wanted to eat a sensible main course, say, a steamed chicken breast, after a decadent flaming dessert.
He smiled sardonically at his own attempt at bravado.