Page 105 of Wright Together
Not before then.
29
Whitton
Iwatched her drive away with a stone in my stomach. I couldn’t shake the feeling that space meantspace. No matter how she’d meant it.
Space.
She wanted space.
I closed my eyes and dropped my head onto the steering wheel. I’d driven her home. I told her to call me when she found out what had happened with Bailey. And then I’d let her go.
What else was I supposed to do?
She had made it perfectly clear that she didn’t want my help. No matter how much I wanted to give it to her. I wouldn’t be the kind of guy who forced himself into a situation.
This wasn’t about me. It was about Bailey. Her sister had to be her first priority. If it were my sister, I’d do anything I could to make sure she was safe, damn the consequences. And with Bailey’s history, I could hardly blame Eve for being worried.
It wasn’t like she’d said we were breaking up or anything.
No. Space wasn’t break. Wasn’t breakup.
But that didn’t mean that I couldn’t see what she was doing by using the word with me. I’d memorized Eve’s expressions. Yesterday, I’d used them to save her from dealing with the party after Arnold’s humiliation. Today, she wouldn’t let me save her from anything.
Instead, she’d closed herself off. Gone was the vibrant girl that I’d fallen for over the last couple of months. The one who made me laugh and want to spend every moment with her. In her place was the girl who I’d first met. The one I’d wanted to crack open and see what made her tick. Except, now, she was using that hardened shell to push me away. In fear for her sister perhaps, but it didn’t feel good either way.
“She’ll call,” I muttered as I pulled out of her house.
It was my mantra throughout the day.
She’ll call.
As I put my running shoes on and clocked six miles.
She’ll call.
As I showered away my run.
She’ll call.
As I watched a replay of the final game in the Seattle Kraken season.
She’ll call.
As I sat at my desk in my home office and tried to get ahead of work.
She’ll call, I thought, even when she hadn’t called.
“Fuck,” I growled, pushing away from my desk.
She wasn’t going to call.
I was trying to feel better about all of this, and no matter what I did to distract myself, I wasn’t okay. After the night we’d had, I’d thought we were stronger than ever. I’d thought that she’d want my help with something like this. That I could be here for her. But that wasn’t what she wanted.
It wasn’t about the phone call.
I was certain that she was busy and freaked out and dealing with all this stress. That was the problem. That she had to deal with it alone. I knew that shecould, but that didn’t mean she had to.