Bailey let out this cute annoyed laugh. "Well, if you must know, he dumped me on Valentine’s Day."
I looked over at her and couldn't help the small smile that crept onto my lips.
"What's so funny about that?" she asked, getting defensive.
I chuckled to myself. "Well, on one hand, I think the guy is an ass for letting you go, but on the other, it was the best decision he ever made."
"What?" she said, her voice full of annoyance.
She was too cute when she got angry.
"Well, if you were with him now, you wouldn't be here with me."
"Oh." Bailey giggled. "Seriously, I think we just fell out of love, or perhaps he never loved me in the first place. Either way, it's over. He's moved on, and here I sit."
"I see. What about you?"
"What about me what?"
"Have you moved on?" I questioned as I held my breath and waited patiently for her answer. Her eyes met mine and she slowly nodded.
"I'm glad. It would be awkward with Jim sitting here."
Bailey looked over at me and started to laugh. "You think."
The silence between us grew as we sat side by side looking at one another, when finally Bailey cleared her throat. "When Cara begged me to come back, I really didn't have a reason to say no, except for you." She hung her head and clasped her hands together.
"Me?"
"Part of me was afraid of what I would find."
"How so?"
"Deep down, I was afraid I would come back and find you had gotten married and have a family. I don't know, it’s stupid."
"I see. Well, if you want to know what it is I've been up to, all you have to do is ask," I said, reaching over and brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.
"I already know, so spare me the details," she whispered, raising her eyes to meet mine.
"How do you know?"
"Cara told me you've been doing the entire town. I already know and it’s okay, it doesn't matter. It's not like we are together, together, but Zoe? Really?"
I didn't know what to say to her. I'd planned to tell her I'd spent the last five years waiting for her. I planned to tell her how happy I was to have her back in my arms, to be back together with her. Instead, the look on her face floored me as the words ‘it’s not like we are together’ rolled off her lips. "You just keep telling yourself that. As for Zoe, she was nothing but a moment of weakness and bad judgment."
"Keep telling myself what? That we aren't together?" Her eyes met mine, and even though her comment stung, I held her gaze. "We aren't together, Jackson. I don't know what this is, but it’s definitely not that."
"Bailey, you may be upset that I slept with 'the entire town' as you put it, but I'm different with you. It's all different with you and always has been."
I kept my eyes locked with hers. I wanted to lean in and kiss her, take her down to the bedroom and show her, just like I did last night, how different everything was with her for me. Yet I didn't dare make a move, not yet.
"I'm not upset. You were a free man to do whatever it was you wanted," she mumbled as she looked down at her watch. "I should get going."
"Why?" I questioned.
"Because it's late, and I think I need to be alone. Besides, Mom has been alone for a couple of days. Plus, I go back to work tomorrow through the rest of the weekend. It will be busy, I'm sure."
"So you'll be working for the annual Fourth of July pub crawl?" I hadn't wanted to bring it up. Neither of us had mentioned anything about Connor since we'd been together, yet we both new the subject hung in the air between us.