Page 30 of Tanner

“Hell if I know. You’re welcome for a great night?” she guesses and continues, “You’re welcome for this awesome piece of art? You’re welcome for making this ugly building look halfway decent when you pass by?”

She turns back toward the school, and yet here I stand, staring at the image.

It’s as big as me. The person who made this took great care in capturing the way the man is holding the woman, like he cherishes her. He also thinks highly of her because her figure is the kind most women would kill for.

“Everything okay, Harper?” Willa calls out.

I turn slightly, waving my hand. “Yeah, I just …”

I look at the colors of the painting. The red, black, and lavender. It’s all so coincidental, and yet—

He found me.

“I like this one,” I try to say as nonchalant as possible.

I snap a picture of it on my iPhone and jog lightly to catch up with her. I try to walk into work like my world hasn’t just been turned upside down.

And, if I thought my world was lopsided a second ago, it’s nothing compared to the feeling I have when I walk into my classroom. Standing in the middle of the linoleum is the last person I want to see right now.

“How did you get in the building?” I ask Aaron, who’s standing by my desk, wearing a suit and a sullen expression.

“I’ve been trying to reach you all weekend.” He reaches out for me, but I back up.

“My ignoring your phone calls should have been a clue to the fact that I don’t want to be reached.”

“I need to talk to you.” He places a hand over his heart as he says, “I love you.”

I cross my arms and scowl. If he thinks a simple declaration of love is going to have me falling to my knees, he’s sorely mistaken. It didn’t work a month ago, and it’s not working now.

Aaron runs a hand through his black hair and lets out a deep sigh. “What can I say or do to make you see I want you to come home? I want you back, and I want to make this relationship work.”

I blink at him, and then I blink at him again. “I cried every day for weeks. I replayed our relationship over and over in my head, trying to figure out where it had gone wrong. I analyzed what I’d said or done that would make you cheat on me.”

“It wasn’t like that—”

“What was it, Aaron?”

“We were just fooling around. Just two friends who were … you know.” He struggles through his argument.

“I don’t know. You were sleeping with her, our friend, a woman we’ve had over for dinner and whom we hung out with regularly.”

“Nicole is still your friend.”

I hold up a hand. “Don’t speak her name. She’s trash.”

His hands fall to his hips in defense. “And what does that make me?”

I clench my jaw. “The same.”

He looks down at me with beady eyes. With his hands on his hips, pushing his jacket to the side, he looks like an investigator. “Who is he?”

“Who?” I know exactly whom he’s referring to.

“The long-haired freak you were all over at the bar.”

I want to defend him. Tanner is not a freak. He’s a gorgeous, expressive, talented, soul-igniting man who set me on fire. I won’t say any of that. I won’t give Aaron the satisfaction of getting under my skin.

“None of your business,” I spit.