Page 22 of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart

“Go, then.” His tone was dismissive. It rubbed me the wrong way. It was my house and he was basically kicking me out.

But when I looked around and saw the chaos, I realized he was actually making sense. I might not like it but it was true.

“Can you keep an eye on things here?” I asked, ignoring the little voice in my head that told me he was the last person who needed supervising.

Kannon turned, his brow furrowing. “You think I don’t have this under control?”

“No, I just⁠—”

“The place is empty, Merritt,” he interrupted, his voice sharp. “What exactly are you worried about? Do you think me or my guys are going to steal your coffeemaker?”

I swallowed hard, my temper rising to match his. “I’m not worried. I just⁠—”

“Judging, then,” he said, stepping closer, his boots crunching over debris scattered all over the floor. “I’m here to help and you’re judging.”

“I’m not⁠—”

We were nose to nose now, his eyes locked on mine, both of us too stubborn to back down. My heart pounded but I refused to let him see me falter.

“You always were stubborn,” he said, his jaw flexing. “Used to be one of my favorite things about you.”

The words tore little chunks out of my heart. Used to be. Past tense. I shouldn’t have cared, but the pain was sharp enough to make my throat tighten.

“Used to be?” I asked, unable to stop myself.

His gaze flicked to my lips for the briefest second before he turned away, heading back to the wall he was working on. “I’ve got it under control here. Go get a latte or whatever you do and work. We don’t need you here. This is the demolition phase. We’ll be ripping out the carpet and you’ll just be in the way.”

I watched his back as he returned to tearing down the old, musty paneling, each pull punctuated by the rip of nails from the wall. The muscles in his back worked under his shirt. Despite my irritation, I found myself momentarily distracted by the memory of better times.

Shaking away the nostalgia, I grabbed my purse and keys from the countertop. “Fine,” I said curtly, turning on my heel. “Call me if there are any major issues. Try not to break any windows or damage the house any worse than it already is.”

My chest felt hollow as I walked out, leaving him and his crew to their noise. The drive to the cafe in my rental car was short, but I spent the entire time stewing over Kannon’s words, over his tone, over everything about him that got under my skin.

Used to be. I hated that it hurt. Hated even more that it mattered.

I settled into a corner of the bustling coffee shop. The murmur of conversations and the clinking of cups provided a strangely soothing backdrop. It was better than the hammering and drilling at the house. At least this kind of noise I was used to.

I opened my laptop and tried to focus on work. Unfortunately, Kannon’s words echoed in my mind, muddling my thoughts. He didn’t know me but clearly he thought he did.

Used to be his favorite thing.

I didn’t understand what that even meant. How could he pretend to know me when we hadn’t spoken in ten years? He didn’t get to imply I wasn’t the same person.

Even if I wasn’t, it didn’t mean he knew that. He accused me of judging, yet it was him who seemed to have formed his opinions, cast his judgments, and sealed them shut without giving me a chance.

I tried to shake off the growing frustration and bitterness as I focused on the document on my laptop. The cursor blinked back at me, mocking my inability to focus. The smell of coffee was normally a comforting thing, but today it just added to the sensory overload.

I reached for my phone and texted Lucia and Dominique in our group chat. I gave them an update on the house situation. They both texted me back, congratulating me on finding someone to help out. I didn’t tell them exactly who it was. I had a feeling they would have an opinion about it.

And I’d had enough opinions for one morning.

11

KANNON

“Man, you’ve got it bad, boss,” Luke said. He was on his hands and knees, using a pry bar to jerk up carpet that was probably older than I was. “I didn’t realize this was her house. You said this was a special job. I didn’t realize how special.”

“Shut up,” I warned.