“No, I get it.” She did. And despite the pull she’d always felt toward him, it was enough to ground her in the reality of their situation. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to move on, and she had no idea how she felt. Her life was far too complicated at the moment to think about a relationship, but she was starting to think she wanted one. Finding love had always taken a back seat to her career, but she’d hoped as she neared thirty, her career would be established and she could turn her attention to other aspects of life.

Maybe once she got this promotion…

“I worry about Marissa,” he said, and he sounded reluctant to confide in her, but also like he was sensing she might be the perfect person.

“About what?” she asked carefully.

“We used to be so close.” He shook his head. “Now I feel like I don’t even really know her sometimes.”

Sarah bit her lip, unsure what to say. She didn’t want to overstep again or cross any boundaries. The family’s dynamic was none of her business, but he was opening up to her, so she had to say something, right? “I think you’re both just very different people, and maybe it might help if you tried to understand her world a little,” she said gently.

He nodded. “I’m not sure I’m smart enough for her world. All that coding stuff you told me went in one ear and out the other, but I have been trying lately,” he said, attacking the wall with the roller. “I just don’t get why she doesn’t want to play sports and hang out with friends…actual friends, like she used to.”

Sarah had dealt with the same issue. Her parents never fully understanding her… She could never get them to understand. Could she help Wes for Marissa’s sake? “Maybe don’t try so hard to put her into a box she doesn’t want to fit in.”

He stopped and turned to face her. “You think that’s what I’m doing?”

“I don’t know, but I think your relationship would be easier if you gave her some space to be her own person.”

He frowned, and Sarah tensed. Too far. She should have minded her own business.

But then he nodded. “You’re absolutely right,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I’m messing this up, aren’t I?”

He looked wrecked, and Sarah reached out and touched his shoulder. It was meant as a comforting gesture, but the intense, immediate shock that radiated through her core at the contact had her body reacting. She could see her pulse vibrating in her wrist and her mouth was dry.

Wes’s gaze met hers, and he looked as conflicted as she felt.