“So come here. Start over and move here with me.”
Skip’s nostrils flared. He glared at Sanders like he couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. “I have a life in Denver. I can’t just drop everything to live here. I can’t just run away from my problems.”
Sanders flinched, the smile completely gone from his face. “Whoa, mate.”
“Okay,” I cut in. This was too much. I didn’t need to be there while they worked through this. I would talk to Sanders later. “I think maybe you two need to talk.”
Sanders threw out his arms. “I don’t understand you. Either of you. This is great news. We’re getting everything we wanted.”
I started to back away.
“No,” Skip said loudly enough that a few people looked over. Vincent looked up at us, his dark eyebrow rose behind his thick black frames. “You’re getting what you want in this moment and you’re forgetting about everything else. You’re distracting yourself from real life.” His hand gestured to me.
Heat burned my cheeks. “I have to go,” I said.
“Roxy, wait,” Sanders called but I couldn’t hear any more. I wouldn’t be the reason Sanders avoided his responsibilities. I wouldn’t be a momentary distraction.
I walked away. I couldn’t look at him anymore. I was too close to breaking. To falling into his arms and letting him use me as an excuse to avoid real life. When I looked up, Vincent’s gaze followed me with a pinched expression that may have been disappointment but I didn’t have the emotional energy to care.
Sanders
I raced after Roxy.
“Hang on, just stay here,” I snapped to Skip. “I can’t let her go.”
Skip ground his teeth and shook his head.
I caught up with Roxy a few feet away. “You can’t just run away from me again,” I said to her.
She flinched. “Don’t you say that to me, when that’s exactly what you’re doing.”
My body went rigid.
She gentled her voice. “You need to deal with your dad’s death, Sanders. You need to go home and take care of your office, your business, and all the other stuff. I’m not the one running.”
“What about us?”
Her face was deliberately cool. “You need time. I need time too. Maybe the timing isn’t right.”
“We make it right, then. I think we have the potential to be something great.”
“Sanders. We are something great … were … I dunno. But I do know that you can’t be in two places at once.”
“And us?” I asked as fear and anger warred in me.
“We were a summer fling.”
Her words sliced me in half. Roxy was lying. She was lying, as sure as I knew when we played two truths and a lie that day. She was pushing me away. She was running. Not me. I saw the moment she left me in her mind. The moment a façade of ice formed over her heart again. One not even my sunshine could thaw.
“You’re just scared,” I said. “Your past is telling you that it won’t work but that’s not true.”
“It is true. We haven’t even slept this last week. We’re lucky nothing messed up. We’re lucky the client was happy. I’ve barely spoken to Gretchen since the moment you got to town. And I’m not saying that’s your fault, of course, but my friendship has to come first. My job. I told you what it meant to me. How long could we keep this up?”
“We would find a way,” I said through my teeth.
“I’m not saying we couldn’t. I just—we just need time, okay?”
“I’m serious about us,” I said.
“Let’s not commit to things we can’t promise. You go take care of what you need to. In a few months, we’ll reevaluate.” Her gaze moved over me one last time, shuttered and cold. She walked away leaving me numb and defeated.
“She’s right,” Skip said, snapping me back to the present.
I frowned at him, I didn’t even hear him come up beside me. “What are you talking about? This fixes everything. I thought you’d be happy.”
His fists were balled at his sides. “This fixes nothing. This is you escaping one problem and leaping into something else.”
“I fixed my mistakes. I got us more steady business than we’d ever have in Denver.” Now I was growing angry.
He shook his head at the ground, jaw tense. “What about the team? What about your father? I’m not going to go back there and clean up your mess. I’m done.”
“What mess? It’s fine. Everything is fine.” I rubbed at my chest, acid burning up my throat. This wasn’t how today was supposed to go. Our week with MooreTek had gone great. Roxy got her promotion. Outside the Box had gained new clients. Why was everyone freaking out?
“Sanders,” he softened his voice. “You have to go home. You have to go say goodbye to your father. You have to get his things. You have to close your apartment, if you’re serious about all this. You have to talk with our employees. You can’t just leave people behind.”
I didn’t want to hear this. Why couldn’t we all just move forward? Couldn’t we just … pretend?
“Fine.” I shook my head. “Fine. If everyone wants me to leave so bad, then I’ll go.”
“Sanders, you know we—”
But I waved him off and made my way to my room. I packed my bags and found a flight home. Twelve hours later, I finally walked into my apartment. Just like that, I’d left Green Valley.
My phone chirped with a voicemail from Roxy. I didn’t want to hear it but I forced myself to listen anyway, just like my dad’s messages.
“I heard that you left.” Her voice was soft, making my insides feel shaky. “I’m not happy that you left without a goodbye. I know I was the one who told you to go but … I don’t want you to think it’s because … I loved our time together. I’m telling you this in voicemail because I don’t think I could have
