Zach shook his head and pulled away. “I don’t want this hanging between us. It’s been too long.”
“But then how would we make these weekend get-togethers awkward?” It took the last of her restraint to keep a joking tone in her question and the waver out.
He gave a short laugh. “I’m sure we can find a way.”
Some of the tension faded, and she slouched in her chair, but they still hadn’t resolved anything. Ten years of avoiding each other, and she wasn’t the only guilty party there, and now everything was just supposed to be okay between them because they aired their grievances? She spun the conversation back through her head again, and realized neither one of them had apologized or accepted fault. “We can’t gloss over this. That’s what I did wrong before.”
“And I’m not. You fucked up. I fucked up. I’m not putting this all on you, but I am asking you to stop and think for a moment. I’m swallowing my fucking pride to say that. Meet me halfway.”
Guilt wormed its way into her thoughts along with a glimmer of reason. “Maybe, possibly, a little bit. I might have blown some things out of proportion back then.”
He twisted his mouth, and his tone was flat. “Maybe?”
He had one really good point that shouted in the back of her mind in his voice. She had left without ever talking it through with him. Walked away based on her own assumptions and fears. “Probably.”
“For what it’s worth, I am sorry.” His sincerity drew her gaze back up.
She managed a smile. “Me too.”
*
Zach loved that smile. The thought came from nowhere and took up residence in his head. He didn’t like the approach used to reach this tentative peace, but relief filled him they had. She’d destroyed him when she left. Never giving him a chance to make things right. That wound was gone. Scarred over. Replaced with what he’d become. And now they were both on the same page, he could bury the scar, too.
He’d call the waitress—Bonnie—tonight, and that would sate whatever this was inside.
And he felt better now that he’d cleared the air with Rae. The old feelings were gone, good and bad, and they could have something new. As soon as she stopped looking past him instead of at him.
“Now that we’re all friends again”—Scott turned to Rae, no trace of tension in his voice—“You saw the new Iron Man, right?”
And like that, the lines on her forehead vanished, and her joy reached her eyes. “Opening night. The scene with all the drone suits? Didn’t Layla fight a group like that last game?”
“Layla’s fight was completely different and unique. Don’t ever let Chloe hear you say otherwise.”
Layla was the lead character in their game line, and Chloe was proud—rightfully so—of how she’d developed the character over time.
Rae turned her attention to her menu with the shake of her head. “That’s why I asked you, not her.”
“Then yeah, the two have a lot in common,” Scott said.
Bonnie came back to take their orders, and gave Zach a tiny wave and giggle before she left. Scott and Rae’s conversation tripped from topic to the next, leaving Zach in awe.
They danced from one topic to another. Did Rae ever hook up with that guy? Not for more than a night. What did Scott think of the booth babe he met at the last trade show? Cute, smart, asked way too many questions about proprietary Cord technology. If they could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Scott’s answer was, “I don’t know. Russia? That sounds cool, right?”
“Here,” Rae said without hesitation.
The answer surprised Zach. “Everywhere you’ve been, and you pick Utah?”
“Like I said, it’s a place to come home to. I’d visit plenty of other places. France, Italy, Greece, New Zealand… How about you?”
“Any of the above.” As Zach spoke, he realized it sounded tempting. Maybe if they couldn’t pull out of this buyout offer with DM, he’d move. Sell it all, and find a plot of land in Europe or something. It was both tempting and disconcerting. He shook the thought aside.
Rae caught her bottom lip between her teeth, and furrowed her brow. “To each their own.”
The simple movement sparked something in Zach. Desire trailed over him, and burrowed into his thoughts. She’d changed a lot over the years, but the intelligent girl he’d fallen for back then was still a part of her.
Now she was reasonable and confident on top of that.
She and Scott teased and talked as if there were no gap in their relationship, despite the fact Zach knew they hadn’t seen each other for years, and it hadn’t gone smoothly last time. Envy tempered the lust filling him.