Page 75 of Wild Heart

“Okay. Do you want my help tomorrow? I have a couple of meetings in the morning all week this week, but I can help you out in the afternoons.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I’ll probably get up and get things done early, because I have some work-related projects I want to focus on in the afternoons.”

Disappointment washed over his expression. “Fair enough. Well, it sounds like you’ve got a busy week planned. And if I’m honest, there’s going to be a lot on my plate, considering it’s our first week back following the holiday break. But maybe we can get together at the end of the week to celebrate your new place.”

A week.

I’d have a week to come up with an excuse.

“Yeah, I’m sure we could work something out. I’ll just have to see how things go.”

“Of course. We’ll touch base throughout the week and figure out a time that works for the both of us.”

I zipped up my suitcase. “That sounds great.”

Tate jerked his head toward my suitcase and asked, “Is that everything?”

“That’s all of it.”

“Are you leaving now?”

I dipped my chin. “I really want to get back and rest.”

He moved toward the suitcase, grabbed it by the handle, and said, “Come on. I’ll walk you out.”

Just a few more minutes. All I had to do was hold on for a few more minutes. Then I could break down.

“Thanks,” I rasped.

I descended the stairs, said goodbye to everyone, and thanked Larry and Wendy for such a lovely gift. Then Tate carried my suitcase to the car for me. Once it was in the trunk, he opened my door and said, “I hope you had a good time.”

I forced another smile onto my face. “I did.”

“Good.” He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me. I had no choice but to hug him back. How I didn’t cry, I had not a clue. When he loosened his hold on me, he said, “Drive safe. I’ll text you later to check in and see how you’re doing.”

“Perfect. Thanks, Tate.”

“You’re welcome, Ava. See you later.”

With that, I folded in behind my wheel. Tate shut my door. And the next thing I knew, tears clouded my vision as I made my way home.

Now, I was back in my car and on my way to The Westwood Hotel.

It had been three days since I’d gotten back from Keystone Mountain, and it was safe to say I had not a clue how to handle the situation with Tate.

In my defense, I’d been doing everything I could to keep myself busy. Between signing my lease, starting the moving process, and looking for new space to rent temporarily until I could purchase my own studio to work out of, I didn’t have much time to really think about what to do about Tate.

He’d reached out to me a handful of times via text, and I kept the conversations casual with him. But beyond that, I knew the clock was ticking on having to face this. He was going to ask to get together at the end of the week, and I was going to have to agree to go—and perhaps confront him then—or I was going to have to decline and tell him why.

For now, for today, I was continuing to live in a state of ignorance by not addressing the issue at all. Not even in my own head.

And it wasn’t like I didn’t have anything to do with myself anyway. I was heading back to the hotel to turn in my room key and officially check out. I’d stayed at the hotel through last night, because I’d been waiting on my bed to be delivered. Now that it had arrived at my apartment, I could finally get out of the hotel.

In a few hours, I had an appointment to meet with my realtor. She was going to be showing me two potential spots for me to work out of. I had hoped to be able to meet her earlier in the day, but unfortunately, she was booked all morning and early afternoon with showings and a closing.

In between now and then, maybe I’d finally take some time to consider what to do about my broken heart.

I walked through the front doors at the hotel and was happy to see my best friend was working. Since there was a line of guests being helped at the front desk by the employees and I needed nothing pressing, I walked over to where Ivy was.