Her eyes slid from his and a flush darkened her pale cheeks. “It doesn’t matter, Gavin.”

“It matters to me. Why?”

She finally met his gaze. “I shouldn’t have ghosted you. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, but I’m not looking for an apology. I was kind of hoping for something along the lines of an explanation.”

Her eyes searched his for a moment before flicking back to the building. “I . . . don’t know if I can explain it in a way that makes sense.”

“Try me. Was there someone else?”

“No.” She spit the word out on a huff of humorless laughter. “No, not at all. It wasn’t that.”

“So, is this where you tell me it wasn’t me, it was you?”

She shook her head. “No, because it was you.” He huffed a humorless laugh, and she bit her lip.

“Wow,” he said. “It’s a good thing I have a pretty healthy ego. Or at least I used to. Okay then. It was me. ’Nuff said.”

“Partly you. And partly me.”

He stilled and waited.

“It was just a combination of things, I guess.”

“You realize that’s clear as mud?”

She sighed. “I . . . I had some . . . issues in high school that have, unfortunately, followed me into adulthood.”

“What kind of issues?”

She blew out a slow breath. “Boy, that’s a loaded question. And one that I don’t know I can answer adequately right now.”

He studied her, then gave a short nod. “All right, then. Ready to go see what we can find out in there?” She didn’t move. “Sarah?”

“No.” Her fingers curled into fists. “That’s not fair to you. It wasn’t fair when I refused to answer your calls or texts. I was horrible and I do owe you an apology whether you want one or not.”

“You’ve already apologized.”

“What it boils down to is . . . I was scared.”

Three little words had never wounded like those. His fingers flexed around the wheel. “I’d never put my hands on you to hurt you, Sarah.” He glanced at her.

“What?” She blinked at him. “Oh, I wasn’t scared of you physically, it was more of an emotional thing.”

Okay, now he was just confused. “How so?”

“That last date after our kiss—”

“That was a really good kiss, by the way.”

She laughed and rubbed a hand over her eyes. “Yes. Yes, it was. But that was beside the point. I think it was . . . you just reminded me too much of my dad that night.” She grimaced. “Minus the kissing part.”

“Ouch. Thankful for that anyway.”

A short laugh bubbled from her lips. “How can you make me laugh when I’m talking about things I’d rather not?”

“It’s a gift.”