Twenty minutes later, he found a seat in the back of a coffee shop filled with eclectic décor. The place had been designed to look random and hip, but every single piece of art, catchy phrase, and polka dot on the walls and furniture was strategically placed. He cringed at the cold feeling of the place, watching people come and go. No one stuck around for longer than it took to get their drinks. This wasn’t the kind of place where people hung out. They were only there for the label on the cup.
He sighed and sank back into the stiff vinyl bench. In a couple of weeks, he’d be able to stomach the other spot again, but for now, he’d have to remember how to work the coffeemaker at home.
He pulled Scott’s business card from his back pocket and turned it over in his fingers, trying to find the enthusiasm to be happy about the entire thing. Chance of a lifetime, and Zane couldn’t even muster a fakewoo-hoo.
He looked up when the front door chimed, and he had to do a double take.
Riley paused a few feet away, eyes wide and gaze locked on him.
His pulse skidded and stuttered, and his heart hammered. He forced himself to smile. To pretend she hadn’t ignored his text. To overlook that she still wore her bridesmaid dress. That her hair had torn itself from the high bun she’d had it in, six hours before, and it fell in messy locks around her shoulders. That her makeup was smeared, her cheeks were flushed, and her lips swollen.
“Hey.” Her voice was so soft it vanished in the hip background music. “What’s that?” She nodded at his hand.
Not how he intended to start this conversation, but he’d take any opener. He held the business card up between his index and middle finger. “Your brother-in-law’s business card. He offered me a job.”
The corner of her mouth twitched, but he couldn’t tell if it wanted to pull up or down. “Congratulations.” Her voice was flat.
He tried to keep his tone light. “If this is what nepotism gets me, what happens when he finds out how severely I fucked up?” He winced as the words passed his lips. He hadn’t meant to sound so bitter.
Her shoulders slumped. “He doesn’t work like that. If he offered you the job, it has nothing to do with me. It’s because he wants you working for him.”
He reached deep inside and pulled out a smile. “I’m sorry—”
She cut him off. “I got your message. Couldn’t answer. I’ll just tell you in person. We lost that chance.”
He furrowed his brow and studied her face, looking for some sign of forgiveness or hatred—or anything. All he saw was his confusion reflected back at him. “Then...”
She shook her head. “I have to get home.”
“Wait.” This conversation couldn’t end like this. He finally understood what Granddad’s point was. What it meant. How it applied to him. Even if Riley didn’t forgive him, he owed her an apology. “About what I said...”
She locked a sad gaze on him but didn’t interrupt.
“I shouldn’t have done or said any of it. Except tell you the truth about what happened while I was gone. You deserve to know, or our friendship isn’t as strong as I want to think it is. I’ve been unfair to you for too long.” Now that the words tumbled out, he needed to keep going. “I’m used to people having a hidden agenda, to them not saying what they mean—and that’s my problem, not yours—but I know you don’t work that way. I know I can trust you.
“I’m so sorry I betrayed you, and I don’t expect you to say it’s all cool and just forget about it. And I know some of it you might not ever be able to overlook. And I love you, Riley. I always have, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same, but you deserve to know.”
She ran her thumb over each of her fingernails, not quite looking at him. Her expression wavered, and she chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Thank you.”
Not even close to what he expected. “Of course.”
She hesitated for a moment, before kissing him on the cheek—quick and chaste, the way she had so many times over the years. Then she turned and walked out, never making it to the counter for her own drink.
His entire frame tensed at the lack of resolution, until his head throbbed and his neck ached. Had he been forgiven? Did it matter? Were she and Archer back together? Again? For the five billionth time?
They must have spent the night together. Why else would she still be dressed like that? That would explain why she had such a neutral response to his gut-wrenching revelation. He’d known she might not feel the same, but her brush-off dug deep, aching in his chest and throbbing in his skull.
He tossed his mostly full cup in the trash and walked out the door. On top of everything else, he needed to figure out if he really could be happy for Riley, regardless of who she ended up with.
He sank in his truck and leaned back into the headrest. He didn’t know if he was capable of working that hard, to atone for his sins.
* * * *
RILEY FORCED HER EYESopen and blinked several times to loosen the mascara caked with dried tears holding her lids shut. Falling asleep in her wedding makeup had been a bad idea. Falling asleep crying had been a bad idea. She should have said something different to Zane this morning. The last twenty-four hours of her life seemed a clusterfuck of things she should have done differently.
She shook her head and sat up.
He loved her. Three words that never meant anything until they came from him. A confession that drilled into her heart and filled her soul... And she’d frozen and brushed him off, stalled on her own insecurities.