I should’ve never let her go.
However, there was something about the way she regarded me that left me scared. Her steely eyes glistened with what I could only assume was pain. And that terrified me; I never wanted to hurt her. What had happened to me wasn’t her fault, yet what had happened to her was entirely mine. The pain in her eyes practically paralyzed me with the fear that I had lost my chance to right my wrongs.
“W-what are you…” She turned her head to the side, glancing out to the parking lot of the apartment complex, as if waiting for a camera crew to pile out of the back of a minivan. When she seemed satisfied that no one else was here, she met my stare again and asked, “How did you know where to find me?”
Considering I didn’t know which way this would go, I decided to keep my response brief. The last thing I wanted to do was come across as a stalker and completely ruin any chance I might’ve had at fixing things. “Uh, Ty told me?” Somehow, that came out like a question, as if I had no idea if Ty was the one who told me where she lived.
It wasn’t like things could get much worse.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” That sounded very much like a complaint. And if her tone hadn’t suggested that, then the quick stomp of her foot would have. Her entire body language had proven to me that, despite my previous assumption, things could get worse. “I haven’t heard from the guy since I left, not one word, and yet it seems as though everyone else has.”
I wasn’t sure if she was upset that he’d told me where she lived or that I’d heard from him and she hadn’t. I hoped for the latter, even though that would raise so many questions that I didn’t care to get into at the moment. Right now, I wanted to deal with us.
“Why did you come here?” Tasha asked, folding her arms over her chest and leaning against the door. While it might’ve seemed like attitude, I wasn’t convinced of it. If anything, I assumed she was simply being protective, wanting to uncover my motivation before letting down her defenses.
Seeing her this way—as herself—almost felt as though I were looking at someone else. I’d seen her in normal, everyday clothes when she wasn’t portraying her uppity sister, so I didn’t understand why she appeared so different now. Maybe it was the fact that, unlike before, we were on her turf. Whatever the reason, I brushed it aside. This wasn’t the time to be dwelling on her notable differences.
“Would you believe me if I said that Sir Terry missed you?”
I couldn’t possibly regret my answer when it earned me that reaction—a subtle smirk and a hint of pink high on her cheeks. Even the fluttering of her lashes as she rolled her eyes was worth it. It was enough to make me realize that I’d been holding my breath since the night Adam showed up. This was the first time since then that I was able to breathe without the fear of doom sitting on my chest.
She shook her head, the tiniest grin still playing in the corners of her mouth. “Did you really think I’d believe that you came all the way here because your pet lizard missed me?”
I playfully balked at her, blinking dramatically for effect. “Lizard? Oh, you better hope he never finds out that you called him that. It would devastate him.”
“Oh, my apologies. I wouldn’t want to offend him, especially since he’s the only one who seems to miss me.” There it was—Tasha had just cast the first line, fishing for more.
“If I’m being honest, I didn’t really have much of a choice. He forced me to come, but that doesn’t mean he’s the only one who misses you. He was getting really pissy with me because I wasn’t taking care of him like I used to.”
The humor dissipated as concern dotted her brow. “Why weren’t you taking care of him?”
“Because I was too depressed to do much of anything.”
“Oh,” she whispered, just as the pain in her eyes returned.
I suddenly realized that it might not have been pain at all, but rather guilt, as if she felt responsible for how everything went down. If that was the case, then I needed her to know that I didn’t blame her. “I was depressed because you weren’t there.”
“Oh,” she repeated, though this time, hope filled her voice.
“I know that I don’t deserve it, especially after the way I left things last time, but I was hoping that we might be able to talk?” At this point, I didn’t care if I sounded desperate; hell, I was desperate. There was no point in hiding it.
Without saying anything else, she finished turning the key in her door and invited me in.
“Wow, this is quite a difference from your sister’s place, huh?”
Tasha tossed her keys onto the coffee table and shrugged. It wasn’t until she made her way back from the kitchen—I only knew where she went because she returned with two drinks—that she finally responded to my statement. “Yeah, I guess it is a little different. My walls are yellow, hers are grey. Other than that, they’re almost identical.”
I twisted off the cap on the bottle of water she handed me and followed her lead, sitting next to her on the two-person loveseat. This was certainly not how I saw our conversation going, not that I was complaining. In fact, I was very happy that things were proving to be easier than expected.
“Listen, Jacoby…” She turned her whole body to face me until she was sitting sideways on the couch. “I’m really sorry about—”
“There’s nothing to apologize for, Tasha. I’ve already told you that. It wasn’t
