the moment Cullen had told me it was over.
Tucking my hair behind my ear again, I took a quick breath. I didn’t want him to see how much this was crushing me. Because it didn’t make sense. We were just friends. Why was this such a big deal?
“I guess if that’s how you feel…”
“I don’t want to hurt you—”
“No,” I said, cutting him off. “You’re not.”
Wow, was I a liar.
He took a step closer. “Skylar, I know I crossed a line with you, and I’m sorry.”
Hearing him call me Skylar made my eyes flood with tears. I looked down so he wouldn’t see. “It’s fine. I need to worry about the book I’m writing and finding an agent and getting a publisher. The last thing I need is to be rushing into something.”
“Yeah,” he said, his voice tentative, like he wasn’t sure if he believed me.
That made two of us.
Suddenly the rustle of leaves was crackling too loudly in my ears. I felt like I was going to crawl out of my own skin.
“Speaking of all that, I have a lot to do,” I said. “I should get home.”
“Are you sure? I can walk you back to your car.”
“No thanks.”
I couldn’t stay or I was going to lose it and burst into tears. I couldn’t let myself do that. Not out here in the open. I managed to mumble a goodbye as I turned and started to walk away.
“Bye, Skylar.”
With tears blurring my vision, I left him standing behind me.
He’d called me Skylar. Not Sky. Twice. And I had no idea why that hurt so much.
24
Gavin
Apparently trying to do the right thing was a great way to feel like shit.
I’d done it twice now, and both times had left me with a hollow ache in my chest. Things were supposed to be better, not worse.
So much for that.
After Skylar had walked away, I’d gone home and sulked with Princess Squeaker for a while. Her only suggestion was to give her kitty treats, which was cute, but didn’t help solve my problems.
My brothers were both on duty tonight, and I’d been too restless to sit at home alone. So I’d come back into town, looking for a distraction. Anything to get my mind off Skylar.
A group of cars outside the Knotty Knitter caught my eye. That looked like Grace’s car. And Cara’s. Gram was there too. What were they all doing there? All shopping for craft shit on a Monday night?
I was curious enough to stop and go inside.
I’d never been in this store. Aisles were jam packed with craft and sewing supplies. Yarn, fabric, paper, paints, stuff like that. I didn’t see anyone, but I heard voices coming from the back of the shop.
I went down an aisle and found a bunch of women sitting on a couch and in upholstered armchairs, all with yarn and big sticks or needles or something. Knitting? Crocheting? I didn’t know the difference.
They all stared at me like I’d just walked into the girls’ locker room after gym class, not the back of a craft store that was open to the public.
“Evening, ladies.”
The corners of Gram’s mouth twitched in a hint of a smile and her eyes flicked around the circle, like she was interested to see what the other ladies would decide to do with me.
My great-aunt Tillie Bailey-Linfield was there, along with Violet Luscier—related to me on Gram’s side—and my high school math teacher, Lacey Hanson. I’d crushed pretty hard on Ms. Hanson back in high school, but she was married with a couple of kids now.
Fiona waved at me with a cheerful smile. Grace twisted around to look at me, while Cara sat sideways in an armchair, sipping a drink, her legs dangling over one side. She was the only one without any yarn or sticks in her lap.
“Evening, Otter,” Gram said.
“Are you lost?” Cara asked with an amused glint in her eyes.
“No, I saw your cars out front. What’s going on in here?”
“It’s Stitch and Sip,” Grace said. “Our knitting and crochet group.”
Cara eyed me for a second, then swung her legs to the front of her chair and stood. “Here, you can have my chair.”
“Thanks.” I lowered myself into the chair, my eyes landing on the woman seated in the corner of the couch.
Wait.
Was that Marlene Haven?
I glanced around, wondering if they could see her or if the Havens had developed invisibility powers. Because how could Marlene Haven be sitting here calmly with Gram and Grace, like it was