27. Sloan #3
She swallowed hard, picking the wineglass up by the stem and avoiding his gaze. “You don’t have to do anything for my sake, Kyle. I know we have a lot to talk about, but you don’t owe me anything. I understand that.”
His eyes flicked back to hers. Something in his expression shifted, subtle, but there. “I know.”
That didn’t exactly make her feel better.
This is so much harder than I thought it would be.
She took a long swallow from her wineglass, then stood, grabbing her bag. “I’ll be back,” she said, vaguely directing her words to Kyle, before she searched for the bathroom.
Sloan hurried toward it, her heart beating faster than she wanted it to.
What if Anna was someone important to him? What if he wanted to date her, or they’d been talking for a while?
They’d never really talked about his dating history. In a lot of ways, much as she wanted to feel like she knew him, she didn’t. She’d known the boy.
Kyle was a man.
She needed to stop assuming he was the same person he’d been. After all, she wasn’t. And God knew she’d hate it if Kyle measured her by her actions from eight years earlier.
Tears were already on her cheeks by the time she reached the bathroom.
Had moving back here been shortsighted?
Because Kyle, clearly, had more to do with her decision than she’d admitted to herself.
Letting out a shaky breath, she hurried into a stall, wiping her cheeks.
She’d just latched the stall door when she heard a voice call behind her, “Sloan?”
Liddy .
“Yeah?” Sloan said, trying and failing to keep the tears from her voice.
“What happened? Everything okay?” Elle’s voice came as she stepped into the stall beside Sloan.
Sloan gave a tearful laugh. “You both followed me to the bathroom?”
“I mean, it’s not a far stretch that I have to go every five minutes,” Elle called over the top of her stall.
“I think Anna will notice,” Sloan said before she could stop herself. She covered her face with her hands. Great. Now I sound as catty as I hate.
“You’re not wrong,” Liddy said, her voice mild. “But then again, Kyle didn’t waste any time making it clear how he felt about that. And you know . . . Elle and I always have his back.”
Sloan grabbed a wad of toilet paper and wiped her nose, then opened the stall door again. She peeked at Liddy. “So does that mean you guys hate me?”
Liddy gave her a chagrined look. “You think we’d be in the bathroom if we hated you?”
The toilet flushed, then Elle made her way out of the stall, both hands braced at her back. “Everything about weeks thirty-five and up of pregnancy is absolute hell. In case you were wondering.”
“You make it sound so appealing,” Liddy said wryly. “Keep it up, and you may never have a niece or nephew.” Then she glanced back at Sloan. “Do you really think we hate you?”
Sloan leaned against the partition between the stalls as Elle moved toward the sinks. “I don’t know. I think I’d hate me if I were you. And I get it if you do, really. All I ever do seems to hurt Kyle. I’m a net negative in his life.”
“You know, I don’t get the feeling that Kyle thinks that, Sloan.” Elle lathered her hands with soap, looking at her through the mirror. “Do you?”
Sloan held Elle’s gaze, then shook her head. “But that doesn’t mean I haven’t hurt him.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Liddy said, coming up beside her. She reached for Sloan’s hand and squeezed it gently. “But is that what you’re trying to do here? You didn’t come back to Nashville to hurt Kyle, right?”
Sloan was amazed at how open and honest they were both being with her. She wasn’t used to such openness with family.
Anytime anything in her family was uncomfortable . . . it just wasn’t discussed.
“No,” she said softly.
“And obviously, Anna bothers you, so things with Kyle are probably a bit complicated for you.” Elle dried her hands, then turned toward them both.
Elle said, “So, maybe you guys just need some time to figure out this new territory you’re in.
Listen, I’m the last person to judge here.
I almost let my husband get engaged to someone else because I was too stubborn to just talk to him about how I really felt.
But, either way”—Elle exchanged a glance with Liddy—“we’re just here to support Kyle.
And that means supporting you, too, Sloan.
You’re in his life again, and he obviously cares about you. That’s not nothing.”
Tears pricked Sloan’s eyes again. “And you both forgive me?”
Liddy hugged her. “Oh, honey, we don’t have to forgive you.”
“Yes, you do,” Sloan said, pulling away and wiping her lashes with her forefinger. “You were like sisters to me once.”
Elle squeezed her shoulder. “These situations take time, Sloan. But it’s good that we talked. And if you’re feeling uneasy out there, just let me know. I’m an easy excuse to exit early if you need.”
Sloan nodded and, as they left the bathroom, she felt strangely better.
Maybe things with Kyle were messy and complicated.
Maybe being his friend would hurt.
But, somehow, it felt like she’d turned a corner tonight. And that meant more than she knew how to say.