Chapter 11
See You Around
Tara
Isaac was pale in the driver’s seat, my cell phone pressed to his ear. A word escaped between his tight lips, impossible to make out over the pounding rain on the hood of the truck.
“How did you get this number?”
Whatever Jay said, it brought the blood back to Isaac’s face in an angry flush. I’d never seen him like this before. The set of his angular jaw was familiar somehow, his expression mean in a way that made me shiver.
“If you think Saul is going to—"
What did Isaac’s brother have to do with this?
My breath came shallow and rapid. Did they know each other?
No. No, that wasn’t possible. Isaac was a walking red flag but for an entirely different reason. He wouldn’t hang out with Jay, or any of the strange men that seemed to flock to him.
Isaac pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the darkening screen.
“What did he say?” Nothing good.
“He—" Isaac cleared his throat, setting the phone in the drink holder too carefully and flexing his fingers. His shoulders were up to his ears, eyes downcast. “He said he’s an asshole. He said he doesn’t deserve you. That you should move on.”
The words sounded like Isaac, but the playful tone was gone. Now his voice was sharper, reverberating deep from his throat. Something in that sound raised goosebumps along my arms.
The air shifted rapidly inside the truck, like the storm was seeping in through the cracks in the door and filling the small space with cold.
Isaac wasn’t telling me the truth. What could Jay have said to him to rattle him this much?
“How long—" He made a choked noise, scratching at the hollow of his throat. “How long were you seeing him?”
“Six months. I had just moved in with him when—"
“He’s right.” I startled, tugging my seatbelt across my chest as Isaac jerked the truck into drive. “You should move on.”
“I have.” With you. And for a second there, I thought…
That maybe this was something more.
That Isaac might actually be different.
He didn’t say anything else, driving mechanically back to my rental. He pulled the truck under the house, idling there with a faraway look on his face.
My first instinct was to apologize. Clearly, he was upset and that was my fault. I shouldn’t have let him answer the phone. Shouldn’t have made this afternoon about me—
No. This wasn’t my fault. I didn’t do anything wrong.
Isaac wasn’t Jay. He wasn’t going to go snarling through the house, punishing me for having an opinion by slamming doors—or worse.
“Thank you for today. It was enlightening.”
“Good,” Isaac answered, unsticking his hands from the steering wheel to rub the back of his neck. “That’s good.”
I waited, tension coiling in my middle. He didn’t say anything else. The shadows under the house moved over his face, sharpening the angles of his cheeks. It was hard to look at him, that harsh cut of his features making him unnaturally vicious.
When he finally glanced my way, I saw the faint yellow light from the porch catch his eye, glittering gold and bright.
My mouth went dry, heart hammering.
He blinked, turning away from me to rub his jaw. When he looked back, his eyes were normal. Soft shades of green mingling with gold.
His discomfort was obvious. Hands fidgeting, gaze moving over my face, then down to my folded hands, then finally to the porch where it lingered for too long.
“Well,” I said, shoving the door open. “It’s been fun.”
He wasn’t going to follow me up those porch steps tonight—my last night.
I mentioned that I was checking out tomorrow. Told him at least three times over the last week. At the time, it was a tease.
After today, it felt different. Sadder. Like there was something unfinished between us.
Isaac climbed out of the driver’s side. He seemed taller somehow, a looming presence. For a long moment, he stood with his back to me, scanning the surrounding darkness. His nostrils flared, and he inhaled long and deep.
That was when it hit me.
He was stalling.
Isaac was stalling because this was goodbye. He knew I was leaving. He didn’t know how to end this.
My insides went cold. Even though I spent weeks telling myself this was nothing—I lied.
Well, this was going to be a painful lesson to learn.
I climbed three steps up the porch, pausing there. Hoping I was wrong.
“Do you want to come up? My clothes are soaked and I could use a hot shower.” My tone was too flat to be seductive, the words ringing hollow in the space between us.
Isaac approached me, the angles cutting deeper across his cheeks. The look on his face tugged at something in my memory, but it slipped away before I could grasp it.
I swallowed a frisson of fear.
“I’ve got to go.” He cleared his throat. Why did he keep doing that? All of this was making me nervous.
“Go where?”
“I have this thing with my brothers.” He took my hand in his. I jumped at the contact, his skin feverishly hot.
He opened his mouth, and nothing came out.
We stared at each other, frozen in time as neither of us knew what to say.
“I think—"
“I didn’t plan—" Isaac said at the same time.
“Sorry, you go.”
The clouds were moving rapidly overhead as the storm rolled further inland. For a heartbeat, the horizon cleared, flashes of moonlight spilling across the bayou onto the concrete at our feet.
Isaac shuddered violently, releasing my hand to run his palm roughly over his face.
“I have to go,” he said, voice thick.
“Okay.” My confusion was turning to anger. If he didn’t want this to go further, what was today?
A date.
An invitation.
Apparently, my ability to read men hadn’t gotten any better.
Anger replaced my discomfort, heating me from the inside out until I wanted to scream. I wasn’t angry with Isaac. I was angry with myself.
How could I be this stupid—again?
“Well,” I said as calmly as I could manage, “I guess I’ll see you around.”
My feet took the stairs two at a time, racing to the front door before I let him see an ounce of emotion. He wasn’t that kind of guy.
Isaac stopped me with a hand on my shoulder, crowding me against the railing. “Tara, wait.”
“What?” I snapped.
The glow of the porch light shimmered in his irises. No—that wasn’t right.
They were—
Isaac looked away sharply.
“Don’t pack too quickly.” The words came out brusque and harsh.
I don’t understand. What did I do wrong?
I didn’t dare ask it out loud. Didn’t speak as he rushed down the stairs, stumbling to his truck like he was in physical pain that would end the moment he got away from me.
I stood halfway up the stairs, rain-soaked, shivering, cold seeping into my bones as the headlights of his truck disappeared into the night.
The old version of me would have gone inside to cry. Poured a glass of wine. Felt sorry for myself.
This time, I couldn’t find any tears. There was an odd emptiness in my chest, a hollow that kept expanding as I shut the door behind me.
I opened the window, watching the clouds clear to reveal the brightest, fullest moon I’d ever seen. Somewhere in the distance, I heard an animal howl.
Long, quavering—heartbreaking.
My body reacted, the hairs tingling at the back of my neck.
I had the strangest feeling like I needed to answer it. To throw open that door and stand under that moon too.
I ignored that feeling, shuffling into the bedroom and dropping my suitcase onto the bed.
Don’t pack too quickly.
Yeah, he didn’t have to worry about that. I was already packed.