“Lance, we can talk about it.”
“No point, right? It’s been over for years.”
It’s a low blow, and completely the opposite of how I feel, but at the moment, I feel weak, with only shaky ground to stand on. She’s exposed me mere hours into our day together, she’s always seen me, seen through me, stripped me bare, and I forgot how uncomfortable that can be. And all I feel now is…anger.
Harper
It’s been an hour since he called me out on the sidewalk next to the statue. Since then, he’s been a living statue himself. After the tour, I suggested we go shopping, and he agreed because he still needed a gift for his mother.
“So, after the show, it’s back to auditioning. Nothing is ever guaranteed, but with Retro on my résumé, it could be a busy summer. At least I hope so.” I have no idea if he’s listening, but I’ve been rambling for five minutes, my nerves firing off. The start of our day was nothing short of spectacular, the last hour has been a fantastical freaking mess. He’s angry, and it’s apparent. When we were together, we rarely seriously fought, if ever. This dynamic between us hurts more because not only are we not together, but I have a feeling he regrets coming to New York.
“You have a lot going on, that’s for sure,” he speaks up finally, thumbing through some scarves.
“I’ve needed to be happy about being busy, right? Most dancers don’t get this far. I’m proud of myself.”
“Lots of me and I going on,” he mumbles before picking up a jewelry box.
“What’s that?” I heard him, and he knows it.
“Nothing.”
“I’ve missed you, you know? More than you can imagine.”
“Can’t imagine it at all,” he says, picking through a book he’s not reading.
“Can I help you two?” One of the store sales associates asks, and I shake my head and smile. When she takes her leave, I look over to Lance who stands fuming on the other side of a table filled with loose items. We’re in a mismatch shop full of mostly cheap junk, and I can’t imagine him finding anything for his mother here.
“Lance, I have missed you. Horribly.”
“Could have fooled me.”
I can only take so much. Irritated, I lift a designer coffee mug from the table.
“You like this for your mom?”
“No.”
“How about this?”
“Nope.” He’s not even looking at what’s in my hands.
“You sure? It’s a hide purse. Cute for a rancher’s wife, don’t you think?” This gets his attention, and stormy eyes lift to mine.
“Would you buy that for you?”
I look it over and shake my head. “Not really my style.”
“Bet it’s not.”
I can feel my ears reddening. Fuming, I eye a box on the shelf, snatch it and shove it into his chest. “How about this giant freaking purple dildo and matching anal plug!? Think Mom will like that?”
He looks up completely unaffected, “Nope.”
“I don’t think we’re in the right place.” Tossing the box down, I stalk out of the cluttered shop and into the department store next to it. He’s hot on my heels.
“Got that fucking right.”
I turn back to see he’s spoiling for a fight and release a stressed breath. Fighting with him is the last thing I want to do. “Look, let’s just…” I search around and pull a sweater from the closest rack. “How about this? Simple, elegant.”
“You think Mom’s simple, huh? I’ll give her your regards.”
“That’s it.” I hook the sweater back on to the rack and close the space between us, forcing his eyes to mine. “God, you’re still a brute, aren’t you? You haven’t changed a bit. Still pigheaded as hell.”
“Pigheaded?” He opens his mouth in mock shock and covers his chest with his hand. “How dare you.”
I’m in between fight or flight, but I’ve been dodging this long enough. My heart can’t take more confrontation. I’ve missed him too much. His eyes flare with satisfaction at my irritation. “Misery loves company, right, Lance?”
“Never said I was miserable.”
“You don’t have to. Did you come to New York just to torture me?”
“Maybe.”
“Rub it in over what I’m missing out on?”
A voice sounds from next to us. “Is there something I can help you find today?”
We both turn to the woman with lasers in our eyes, and she swallows. I clear my throat. “We’re fine. Thank you.”
Lance winks at the woman, his eyes scanning her form. “Maybe you can help me?”
“You son of a bitch,” I hiss, before walking away from the table. His voice rings out next to me as I rip through a rack of scarves.
“Good to know you care, Priss, gotta admit, it’s surprising.”
I reel on him. “Don’t you dare! Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I had to make a clean break. I had just lost everyone that mattered to me. I was losing my mind.”
“I got pissed for one day, and you went off the grid.”
“And you let me go because you knew no matter how much we wanted it to work, it couldn’t. You have no idea what I went through!”
“What you went through? Do you know I spent six months ranting to an Uber driver named Dave because everyone on my team hated me when the truth came out?” He stomps after me as I pull sweater after sweater off the rack. “Troy jumped ship after he got drafted. I had no one but Tony and those fights.”
I turn to him with twenty sweaters in my arms. “Jenner? When did y’all get so tight?”
“When shit got tough, and my fucking girlfriend bailed!” He glares down at me, his breaths coming out fast.
“Guys, we’re going to need you to take this outside.” A woman, whom I assume is the store manager, approaches us cautiously.
I look around the store and see all eyes are on us, especially the women sizing him up. “He’s available, ladies,” I snap, laying the sweaters on a nearby table, “I’m willing to bet he comes really cheap.” He’s on my heels as I push through the glass of the department store.
“Oh, was I supposed to wait for you? Must have missed that memo. That’s it, you must want a saint. That’s why you didn’t stay.”
“I was twenty years old and alienated from a place I didn’t want to be anyway.”
“Good to know.”
“That’s not the way I meant it. And you know damn well until you, I was only there to appease my dad, who I barely speak to now.”
“I’m sorry about that, I am, but that’s on him. And what in the hell are you talking about ‘alienated’?”
“Forget it.” I pull on my gloves as heavy snow starts to come down. “I think we’ve concluded our tour for today.”
He glances around the sidewalk. “Well, no need to show me more, I hate this fucking place!”
“And why is that? Not enough free-range chickens?!”
His eyes flare. “You digging on the ranch now, Priss? I saw a damned rat the size of a cat on my run this morning!”