“I’m sorry about that,” he said sincerely. He’d stopped a few feet from me and I was reminded of what he’d said to me in front of my parents’ house. He was done chasing me. If I wanted him, I had to go to him.
Gathering up what little courage I had left, I took a few steps forward until our bodies were nearly touching and I raised my face toward his. That’s where the courage ended. I couldn’t force myself to touch him or to lean up onto my toes.
And thank God for small mercies that I hadn’t, because the moment I got close to him, he took a step backward.
It was the harshest rebuff that he’d ever given me. Even when we’d argued, he’d never moved away from me. Never, in our entire lives. Our bodies, before we’d even been aware of it, had always gravitated toward each other.
The air in my lungs left in a whoosh as I stared at him in incomprehension. It actually took me a full second to realize what had just happened.
“Oh,” I said softly, my hands starting to shake.
“I’m glad you had a good time,” he said quietly. “Really.”
“Thank you,” I replied, swallowing, swallowing, swallowing, as I willed my eyes not to water. I could feel my nose start to sting and I dug my nails into my palms to try and distract myself. “I see you finally decided to prospect,” I said, trying like hell to act like things were normal and failing miserably as my voice wobbled.
“Look, you wanna go outside?” he asked sympathetically, glancing around the room.
That made the urge to cry even worse. I held back a sob by sheer force of will, pressing my lips together hard. As soon as I knew that I wouldn’t bawl like a baby, I shook my head. “No,” I said, letting out a little huff of air. “No, that’s okay.” I laughed then, the sound watery and pathetic. “I mean, they’ve all been watching this play out, right? It’s not like they won’t be discussing it later anyway.”
“Kara,” he said softly.
“No, it’s cool,” I said stepping backward. “No worries. This is fine. It’s good, right? This is better. No need to rehash old shit.” I swung my arm out awkwardly, still walking backward, and accidentally slammed the top of my hand against the bar. Another uncomfortable laugh escaped me as I pulled my throbbing hand against my chest. “I’ll, um, I’ll see you around. I mean, it’s not like we won’t see each other.”
He stood there and watched me go.
As I spun and pushed the door open, Tommy’s voice carried from across the room.
“That was fuckin’ brutal,” he said, his voice holding both sympathy and condemnation. I wasn’t sure which one of those was for me and which one was for Draco.
The moment the door swung shut behind me, the sob I’d been swallowing back came tearing out of my throat. It was quiet, and painful, and it came from deep in my belly. I blindly took three steps to my car, tripping over my own feet as I hurried, when a pair of strong arms wrapped around me and suddenly I was airborne.
“You’re alright, darlin’,” Grandpa Grease’s voice said quietly in my ear as he carried me across the forecourt. “It’s gonna be alright. Let’s find your pop.”
“I’m okay,” I said, my voice coming out in shuddering gasps. “I’m okay. You can put me down.”
“Well, now that I’ve got ya up here,” he said, striding toward the door at the edge of the garage as I covered my face with my hands, “I may as well finish the job.”
He somehow opened the door, still holding me, and the scent of oil and metal surrounded us as he walked inside.
“The fuck happened?” my dad asked, his familiar footsteps hurrying toward us.
“Came here looking for Draco,” Grandpa Grease said, handing me to my dad like a sack of potatoes. “Figured she shouldn’t be drivin’ like this.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted, clearly not fine.
“Shh,” my dad replied. He pressed my head against his shoulder and without thought to who could be there witnessing my drama, I lost it. My chest heaved and my stomach tightened as I bawled, my arms wrapped tightly around my dad’s neck. And even though the pain was vivid and overwhelming, it was almost a relief to be able to pour it out on my dad. It had been so long since I’d allowed myself to let him comfort me.
“You got this?” Grandpa Grease asked quietly.
“Yeah,” my dad said. “Thanks for grabbin’ her.”
Grandpa Grease circled around the back of my dad and smoothed the hair away from my face so his eyes could meet mine.
“You’ll be alright,” he said. He tapped one finger against my cheek. “Chin up, eyes forward, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I whispered back.