“Maybe you should tell him you’re ready when he’s ready to ask again.”
“What if he’s not?”
Abby made a face. “Mare, we’re talking about Shep. He’s probably struggling with not asking you every day.”
I sighed. “This isn’t about me. I’m here for you.”
She frowned. “I almost forgot.”
The doorknob jiggled, and the door burst open.
“Pidge?” Travis yelled. His expression crumbled when he saw the food on the table, and then he looked over at us sitting on the couch together.
Abby’s eyes lit up as he rushed around the couch and knelt in front of her, wrapping his arms around her middle and burying his face in her lap.
Shepley stood in the doorway, smiling.
I beamed back at him. “You’re sneaky.”
“He chartered a flight back. I had to pick him up at the FPO here in town.” He shut the door behind him and chuckled, crossing his arms. “I thought he was going to have a heart attack before we got here.”
Abby’s nose wrinkled. “The FPO? You mean that tiny airport just outside of town?” She looked to Travis. “A charter plane? How much did that cost?”
Travis looked up at her, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter. I just had to get here.” He looked at me. “Thanks for sitting with her, Mare.”
I nodded. “Of course.” I stood, smiling at Shepley. “I’ll follow you home.”
Shepley opened the door. “After you, baby.”
I waved good-bye to Travis and Abby, not that they noticed while he practically gnawed on her face.
Shepley held my hand as we walked down the stairs to our cars. The Charger was shining like new, parked next to my scratched and dingy red Honda. He unlocked the door, and the smell of smoke assaulted my nose.
I waved my hand in front of my face. “So gross. If you love your car so much, why do you let Travis smoke in it?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s never asked.”
I smirked. “What would Travis do if, one day, you stopped letting him have his way all the time?”
Shepley kissed the corner of my mouth. “I don’t know. What would you do?”
I blinked.
Shepley’s expression turned to horror. “Oh, shit. That just came out. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
I gripped my keys in my hand. “It’s okay. I’ll see you at home.”
“Baby,” he began.
But I was already halfway around the Honda.
I sat in the worn driver’s seat of my dilapidated hatchback, starting it even though I wanted to sit there for a while and cry. Shepley backed out, and I followed him.
I wasn’t sure what was worse—hearing the unintended truth or seeing the dread in his eyes after he’d said it. Shepley felt like a doormat to everyone he loved, including me.
Shepley
I pulled into the covered parking spot next to America’s Honda and sighed. The steering wheel whined as my white knuckles twisted back and forth. The look on America’s face before, when I’d spoken without thinking, wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen before. If I said something stupid, anger would be evident in her eyes. But I hadn’t made her angry. This was worse. Without meaning to, I’d hurt her, cutting her deep.
We lived three buildings over from Travis and Abby. Our building was less college students and more young couples and small families. The parking lot was full, the other tenants already home and in bed.
America stepped out. The car door creaked as she pushed it closed. She walked to the sidewalk, no emotion on her face. I had learned to stay calm during an argument, but America was emotional, and any effort to mask her feelings was never a good thing.
Growing up with my cousins had turned out to be a great resource for handling someone as tenacious as America, but falling in love with a woman who was self-confident and strong sometimes required battling my own insecurities and weaknesses.
She waited for me to climb out of the Charger, and then we walked to our downstairs apartment together. She was quiet, and that only made me more nervous.
“I didn’t have time to do the dishes before I went over to Abby’s,” she said, walking into the kitchen. She rounded the breakfast bar and then froze.
“I did them before I went to pick up Travis.”
She didn’t turn around. “But I said I would do them.”
Shit. “It’s okay, baby. It didn’t take long.”
“Then I guess I should have had time to do them before I left.”
Shit! “That’s not what I meant. I didn’t mind.”
“I didn’t either, which is why I said I would do them.” She tossed her purse on the bar and disappeared down the hall.
I could hear her footsteps enter our room, and the bathroom door slammed.
I sat on the couch, covering my face with my hands. Our relationship hadn’t been great for the past few months. I wasn’t sure if it was because she wasn’t happy with living with me or if she wasn’t happy with me. Either way, it didn’t bode well for our future. There was nothing that terrified me more.
“Shep?” a small voice from the hallway called.
I turned, watching America step out from the darkness into the dim living room.
“You’re right. I’m overbearing, and I expect you to give me my way all the time. If you don’t, I throw a tantrum. I can’t keep doing this to you.”