Page 89 of Just One Chance

My stomach rumbled just as the door opened.

My heart flipped in excitement. Had Kennedy come back to tell me she'd made a mistake in leaving?

Beck stepped inside, carrying a pizza box. "You've been hiding out."

"You brought food." I ripped off my goggles and wiped the sweat from my brow.

"Thought we could eat outside. It's not too bad out."

I wouldn't know because I hadn't even ventured outside of the shop the last few days. I worked from the time I woke up until I went to bed. I ate whatever frozen meals I had in my fridge and hid from the world.

I didn't want to know what Kennedy was doing or whether anyone had an opinion about the way she left.

It hurt too much to even think about.

I led the way outside, grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge in the back. Outside, I set the beers on a small end table and started a fire in the pit.

Once it was burning, I grabbed a slice of pizza from the box and bit into it. I quickly ate a few more pieces and chased them down with a beer. I was glad that Beck wasn't talking. Chatter was the last thing I wanted to hear. "You're not hungry?"

"I ate with Clara. I thought I'd stop by and see how you're doing."

I brushed the crumbs off my jeans, wondering if these were the same ones I'd worn yesterday and, if so, whether I'd slept in them. It was entirely possible, which meant I needed to wash my sheets. They'd be covered in dust. I probably needed a shower too. "As you can see, I'm fine."

He lowered his elbows to his thighs. "When was the last time you showered? Changed your clothes? Stepped outside?"

I stiffened. "I don't see why any of that matters."

Beck chuckled. "I've been where you are. I've screwed up royally. The only difference was that neither of us left. I wanted to—I had my flight scheduled—but then Gina visited for Christmas, and I was stuck here. Best thing that ever happened."

"I know what happened between you and Clara. You don't have to repeat it every time we're together like it's some kind of life lesson," I said rudely and immediately regretted it.

Beck sighed. "Are you going to go after her?"

"She left. It's over." And I didn't want to say it out loud, but she hadn't even bothered to contact me after the first couple of texts. She could be busy. Obviously, whatever the job had been came with a bonus large enough to convince her to leave early and not take her usual break in Miami. So it was possible she was too busy to talk, but my heart didn't want to believe that she'd ignore me. That she'd moved on. It was a war I fought in my head every day.

He raised a brow. "Is it really?"

"If she wanted to be here, she would be."

"You know it's more complicated than that. Her home is in Miami, and her business is wherever it takes her. You're going to have to tell her how you feel and ask her to stay."

"I don't have to do anything." I'd been fighting this very instinct for days. Shouldn't I just get on a plane and talk to her? And then what happens when she says she never felt anything for me? That she'd already forgotten about our time together? I couldn't take the pain of that.

"Do you love her?"

"So much it hurts." I couldn't believe she'd walk away, but the evidence was right there in front of us. It couldn't be avoided or talked around.

"Let's look at the facts. You love her but never told her how you felt. So when she got a lucrative offer, she went. There was nothing holding her here."

When he put it like that, it sounded a hell of lot different than how I'd rationalized it in my head. Hadn't she left me? But what if I hadn't given her a reason to stay? "She had to know how I felt, and if she loved me, wouldn't she have said something?"

"Maybe she needed to hear it from you."

His words landed with a thud in my chest. What if she was just as scared as I was? "We'd said our relationship would only last while she was here."

"Things change."

I nodded miserably. "They did for me."