“I’m so sorry,” he said. “This had nothing to do with you and me, I swear. I’m with you. I never should have lied to my mom. And I should have told you about this a long time ago. I should have told you in the car that day. But I didn’t want you to think that I’m the kind of person who lies to his mom so he doesn’t have to tell her he quit his job and feels like a failure. Please forgive me?”
She was still mad. And hurt. But she couldn’t say no to him when he looked at her like that, with those kind, worried eyes, and so much emotion on his face.
“Okay,” she said. “But can you please stop this pretense? Like, immediately?”
He nodded.
“Yeah. I’ll tell my mom right away. That the Avery thing wasn’t true, but also about you and me.”
He put his arm around her, and she leaned into his chest. She’d panicked, for a moment there. For longer than a moment. That everything between them was fake, that she was wrong to trust him, that everything she’d been so happy about last night and this morning had turned to dust.
He kissed her on her shoulder blade, and she let herself breathe again.
“Are we okay?” he asked.
She closed her eyes and breathed him in. She felt a lot more uncertain of him than she had twenty minutes ago, but she didn’t want to throw all of this away just because of a stupid thing he’d done before they’d gotten together. And she knew that he’d been telling the truth when he said it had nothing to do with them.
“Yeah,” she said. “We’re okay.”
* * *
HE PULLED HER CLOSE. He’d been terrified for a moment there that he’d fucked it all up.
“How’s your mom going to take it when you tell her that you aren’t on sabbatical, but you quit your job?”
Well, now he had to tell her about the interview.
“A lot better now than she would have a few months ago. They’re trying to get me to go back. I told you that my old boss is leaving. Well, I have an interview there this week for his job.”
After the stuff he’d told her about that job, he wasn’t sure how she’d react. She looked stunned.
“They’re trying to get you to take that job? You’re interviewing for it this week?”
Why had she said you like that? Like it was ridiculous for them to want him?
“Yeah, well, I’ve been texting back and forth with my old mentor for a while now, and last week he reached out to see if I was interested. Big pay increase, a level up, a better title, and from what I can see online, the people who most annoyed me are gone, so I wouldn’t have to deal with them on my team. From what he said, it’s mine if I want it, but I’m not counting on that.”
She pulled away from him and turned to face him. She still looked stunned, but also angry. Was she still mad about the Avery thing?
“Wait, last week he reached out to see if you were interested? And you said yes?”
He shrugged.
“I mean, I’ve been thinking about my next steps for a while, so when he texted, I figured I should at least talk to him about it. He was really complimentary about my work and what I could bring to the team, so anyway, long story short, I have this interview on Thursday.”
She pulled the sheets tighter around herself.
“You’ve been thinking about your next steps for a while? You’ve known about this interview since last week, and you’re just telling me about all of this now? The last we talked about this, you said he’d texted you, and I asked if you’d ever go back there and you laughed and said never.”
Oh, right, he had said that to her on the drive back from the auction. That felt like forever ago.
“Yeah, but . . . things have been changing there, and I figured I might as well give them another shot, right? Plus, my mom will be better soon, I’ll need to find another job anyway. The devil you know, right?” He grinned at her, but she didn’t grin back. Was she upset because she thought he’d be moving? “Don’t worry, I don’t have to move back down there—I can do most of the job remotely.”
He reached for her, but she pulled away.
“That’s great, but if you’ve been thinking about this for a while, and talking to your old mentor and other people about an interview, why is this the first I’m hearing about it? Why didn’t you talk to me about it?”
Was she actually pissed about this? Why wasn’t she excited for him?
“I don’t know, Margot. Maybe because I knew you’d say something like ‘They’re trying to get you to take that job?’ like it’s absurd for them to actually want me, to think I’m competent, like I’m good enough to do it.”