“Of the dates that I think Tina could have broken into the cottage and of any suspicious people I could remember. There’s not much there, and I don’t know how it’s going to help. But he said it would help if I could at least narrow down the timing of the earlier break-in,” she said, picking up a menu.
“I’ll pass it on to him,” I said, wishing for a stiff drink.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, cocking her head to study me. “You look tired.”
“Daze, we gotta talk.” The words were choking me. My skin felt too tight. Everything felt wrong.
“Since when do you feel like stringing words together?” she teased.
She trusted me. The thought made me feel like dog shit. Here she was, thinking her boyfriend was treating her to lunch in the middle of the day. But I’d warned her, hadn’t I? I’d told her not to let herself get too close to me.
“Things have gotten…complicated,” I said.
“Look, I know you’re worried about the break-in,” Naomi said. “But I think when the new security system goes in, it will be a load off our minds. Warner is back home, so if it was him throwing some destructive temper tantrum, he’s too far away to do it again. And if it was Tina, the odds are she either found what she was looking for or realized I don’t have it. You don’t need to worry about me and Way.”
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I just needed to get the words out.
She reached across the table and squeezed my wrist. “By the way, I just want you to know how grateful I am that you’re here. And you’re helping. It makes me feel like I’m not alone. Like maybe for the first time ever, I don’t have to be completely responsible for every single thing. Thank you for that, Knox.”
I closed my eyes and tried not to throw up.
“Look. Like I said.” I had to grit my teeth to get through it. “Things are complicated, and part of that’s on me.”
She looked up and frowned. “Are you okay? You look tired.”
I was fucking exhausted. And full of self-loathing.
“I’m fine,” I insisted. “But I think it’s time to move on.”
Got yourself a girl? The words echoed in my mind.
Her hand stilled on my arm. “Move on?”
“I’ve had a good time. I hope you have too. But we need to stop this thing before one of us gets too attached.”
She stared at me, those hazel eyes stunned and unblinking.
Fuck.
“You mean me,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I mean what we’re doing is…” Scaring the shit out of me. “This thing between us has run its course.” Because I can’t trust myself with you, I thought.
“You brought me here to a public place to break up with me? Unbelievable.”
Her hand was gone now, and I knew I’d never feel it again. I didn’t know what had the power to break me faster, knowing that or knowing what would happen if I didn’t end this now.
“Look, Naomi, we both knew the score when we started this. I just think before one of us gets in over their head, we need to pull back.”
“I’m such an idiot,” she whispered, bringing her fingertips to her temples.
“I know you’ve got the custody hearing coming up next month, and I’m willing to still keep up the appearance that we’re together, if you think it’ll help you in court. And I’m still gonna be keeping an eye on you and Way until we know for sure who busted into your place.”
“How magnanimous of you,” she said, her tone icy.
I could handle angry. Hell, I could eat angry for breakfast every day. It was the tears, the hurt, the pain I couldn’t deal with.
“I said from the beginning I don’t do strings.” I’d warned her. I’d tried to do the right thing. Yet here she was looking at me like I’d deliberately wounded her.