“Molly?” Confusion marks his voice, but he hasn’t moved from the spot I left him a moment ago.
“I can’t do this with you.”
“Okay.” He startles me when his hand reaches over mine before I can grip the doorknob. “Okay.”
He’s calm, not the reaction I expect from a man who has just been rejected.
“Look at me,” he urges, and eventually I manage to turn my eyes up to him. “It’s fine.”
“I didn’t mean to lead you on.” My words rush out, jumbling together. “I hope you find someone to replace me.”
“Replace you?” His head shakes, rejecting the words. “I don’t want to replace you.”
“We can’t—I can’t,” I correct before pausing. “Things will be awkward now.”
“They don’t have to be. I can wait until you’re ready.”
“I can’t,” I repeat. “You shouldn’t wait.”
“Then I won’t,” he agrees even though I feel like he’s only placating me until I calm down. “I don’t want you to quit.”
“There isn’t a chance for us, Owen.”
I leave off the part about being in love with someone else and that the kiss we shared made me feel nothing compared to what I felt kissing Briar. Hurting him serves no purpose, and I’m not normally a mean person, even if I found myself kissing him first.
I wanted to feel something for him. I honestly did, but thinking a second or a third kiss will somehow ignite feelings in me is foolish.
“That’s fine too.” He doesn’t bother to hide the disappointment in his voice, and I’m grateful for his honest emotion. “Just friends, then.”
I don’t cower away when he steps closer and presses a kiss to my forehead. He swallows, the sound audible in the silent room before he steps back.
“Let me walk you to your car. Those bikers from the chasm have been in town more frequently. I don’t want something to happen to you.”
Guilt rushes over me as we descend the stairs and exit through the front door of the clinic. He’s the only one in this equation that needs to worry about those bikers.
“I promise not to let things be weird,” he vows as we reach my car, but there’s hesitation in his voice.
“Okay,” I agree, knowing there’s a very slim chance I’ll ever return.
He pulls me into another hug. “If he doesn’t realize what he’s got, he doesn’t deserve you.”
Tears burn the back of my throat at his declaration, but I don’t give a voice to the pain.
When he releases me, I climb inside my car and leave him standing in the parking lot, doing my best to ignore the pain in his eyes when my headlights flash over his face.
I’m debating returning to the clubhouse to pack and leave for good when I find myself parked at the playground. This place has always been a comfort to me. Even after Briar’s wicked confession days ago, I find myself climbing out of my car and slowly making my way to the middle swing.
I wait, head hung low as I give myself permission to finally let the tears fall. Silently they stream down my face. Even when the sound of footsteps echoes around me, I let them burn down my face. When the footsteps falter, and Briar doesn’t settle into the swing beside me, I lift my head to the darkness around me.
Cold chills settle in my bones even though the summer night is warm. Briar isn’t here, but my senses tell me I’m not alone either. The protective eyes I felt on me days before aren’t the ones looking at me now. As calmly as I can manage without seeming rushed, I stand from the swing and begin walking toward my car. My pace increases the closer I get as I do my best to listen to my surroundings, a nearly impossible task with fear and my blood pounding in my ears. Thankfully, I’m able to get in my car and away from the park without incident, but my heart is still racing, and cold chills are stiffening my spine even as I pull up to the gate.
Slowing at the entrance, I roll down my window. Pete’s smiling face calms my angst only mildly as he leans in to speak with me.
“Hey, Princess. How was work?”
“I—I think someone is following me,” I stammer.
He straightens from my car. “Get inside, Princess. You’re safe here.”
He pulls his radio to his mouth as I roll up my window and drive through the gate. Chains and Hornet are filing out the front door by the time I get out of my car.
“No worries,” Chains says with a quick smile. “You’ll forget about it by the time you get inside.”
I huff at his sureness, opting to walk through the clubhouse, rather than walk around the clubhouse in the dark. The chill I feel down to my bones will take forever to ebb away.