But now, I know I was wrong. I was waiting for you to come into this town like the breath of fresh air, holding my heart right there in your hands. Katie didn’t take my heart with her because it was never hers to have. Presley … I was a fool for thinking that I ever loved another woman. Because that comes nowhere close to this. I’ve told you from the beginning that I’m a straight shooter, an honest man who plays no games. And it might be early, and lord knows it could get me in trouble with you, but I’m going to say it.”
Please don’t, I try to tell him with my eyes. This will ruin us.
“I love you, Presley. From the minute you brought that goddamn dog into my practice, I was head over heels. You balance me out in every way, and I don’t know that I could have gotten through this summer without you. I am in love with you, and I know now that this kind of love was the one I was waiting for all along.”
His confession feels like a bullet. Straight to the chest, mutilating my heart. I have to actively try to keep my feet planted to the spot, and words have escaped me.
Keaton just broke us, and he has absolutely no idea.
31
Keaton
I knew when I decided to tell Presley I loved her that she may not say it back.
Hell, I knew she probably wouldn’t. But stupid me, I’d given her the benefit of the doubt, just like I gave everyone.
And now she was acting weird. She’d said she wanted to have dinner with Hattie instead of coming back to my place as the week started, and now it was Wednesday and she hadn’t slept over the first two nights of the week. She’d barely spoken to me when I brought lunch over to the bookshop and had shrugged off with some vague excuse about needing to see Lily when I asked if she wanted to see a movie tonight.
Inside, my gut roiled with regret and fear. I’d rushed things … me and my stupid, small-town heart had told the adventurous, city-girl wanderer that we were in love with her. Which was basically the exact thing I knew would send her packing, and yet I’d done it anyway. Presley was distancing herself, and waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for her to tell me she couldn’t do this anymore … the anxiety was eating me alive.
“Keat, you’ve got to calm down.” Bowen put a forceful hand on my kneecap, stopping my leg that had been shaking a mile a minute.
“You’re asking this man, who’s only ever been with two women in his life, to calm down? Do you even know our brother, dude? He’s going to work himself up into such a state, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gives himself an ulcer.” Forrest laughs at my misfortune and walks to my fridge, helping himself to whatever is inside.
“Hey, do not eat my leftover shrimp scampi!” I yell at him, chewing a fingernail. “And I have not only been with two women in my life, no matter how boring you think I am. I just … the suspense is literally killing me. I wish she would just do it already. Break up with me. The avoidance or ghosting as you kids are calling it these days, is really messing with me.”
Forrest walks back to my living room, a cold piece of pizza halfway to his mouth. “I could hack into her email or her texts. We could see what she’s saying about you.”
I glare at him. “No, thank you. And seriously, I mean no. Don’t do it behind my back because you’re bored.”
He shrugs, already bored about talking about me.
“I get it, man, trust me I know what it’s like to feel left in limbo. But you’ve got to just relax. And if you can’t … I guess you can track her down and make some grand gesture but something tells me that Presley isn’t that girl.”
How come in situations that don’t apply to him, Bowen can be so articulate and supportive? Ask him one question about himself and he’ll shut down.
“How’s Fletch doing?” I change the subject.
I pick up the remote to have something to do with my hands and flip to Planet Earth. On the television, monkeys romp around in what looks like a tropical forest.
“He’s actually doing well. Showed up for work this entire week, I