“Chloe? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” She raised her head to see him watching her with his hands in his pockets. And she decided she was ready for more truth. “Why did you leave yesterday?”
He tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling. “Chloe…I don’t know how to handle this. You told me to go. You told me you needed to work it out on your own.”
Even though he couldn’t see her, she nodded. She had told him to go, so she couldn’t figure out why she was so damn mad at him. “I didn’t need you,” she conceded. “And I know I told you to leave, but…”
He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair before looking at her again. “But what? Chloe, I swear, this is new territory for me. I’m lost. I can’t take care of you, and you don’t want to be taken care of! So what was I supposed to do?”
“You’re supposed to…” It was impossible to explain. The words tumbled in her mind, still full of hurt and anger. “You’re supposed to stay, Max. You stay because I don’t need you. You stay because when someone tells you they’re strong and they don’t need help, you stand there and offer it anyway!”
“I don’t—”
She was sobbing now, and she didn’t care. “You stay because I am strong and I’m not a crazy bitch, and I deserve to have someone at my side, just because he c-cares about me!”
“Oh, Jesus, Chloe. I’m so sorry.” He crouched down to hold her, but she held up a hand to stop him. After a few ragged sobs, she took a deep breath and managed to get the crying under control.
“I’m okay. I’m fine.”
He watched her with tortured eyes, his hands still open as if he needed to touch her.
“Max…there’s a difference between offering support and taking care of someone like a child. You’re going to have to figure that out.”
“You’re right. I know you’re right.”
“You can’t run away when there’s a problem.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’ve never done this before.”
“Done what?” She sniffed hard.
He was quiet for a moment. “Had a real, normal relationship.”
Suddenly, Chloe wasn’t mad anymore. She wasn’t even hurt. She held herself very still. “Is that what this is?”
“Well, it’s real. And strangely enough, it feels surprisingly normal. But… Christ, Chloe, I’m going back to sea in a few weeks, so what the hell am I supposed to do about that?”
It felt real and normal? With her? On a day like this, that was all she needed to hear. Nothing more, nothing less. “Max, I hear what you’re saying. I know our next conversation is going to get complicated. I know my life is a mess and so is yours. But just for today… Just for today, let’s pretend it’s all really simple.”
He stood and shook his head. “We already tried that. It didn’t work out so well.”
Chloe watched his strong chest rise and fall. A few stray dust motes danced past his neck. She stood and went to him, pressing her hands to the tight muscles beneath his shirt. “Please? I can’t figure anything else out today.”
“All right,” he murmured. “Not today.” His hands settled on her shoulders, thumbs feathering up her neck. “But you’re totally taking advantage of my guilt.”
A grin stole her worry away. “I can accept that.”
“You don’t want to tell me what happened with Jenn?”
“It wasn’t her. That’s all I want to say. Today, I’m too fragile to talk about any of that.”
“Fragile, huh?”
“Yes. And needy.”
“Chloe, you’re full of shit.”
“Shh. Just pretend.” They were both smiling when their lips touched. It made no sense. She’d just had one of the worst days of her life, and she was dragging Max and all his issues down into it. But in the end, they both went willingly.