“Aw, babe!” Anna cries, turning and wrapping her arms around his neck, brushing her nose against his as she murmurs something to him.

Harley’s hand squeezes my shoulder, letting me know he’s still here with me, and I turn slowly, looking up and meeting his eyes. “Will you take me home?”

His jaw is tight, but he manages a smile. “Yeah,” he whispers. “Let’s get the hell outta here.”

I shuffle out of the booth with Harley close behind me and, with one last fleeting glance over my shoulder at Nash and Anna who are both oblivious to our departure, I don’t even bother saying goodbye before walking away.

Chapter 19

The entire drive home, my mind keeps flashing back to Nash. His words reverberate through my head like a broken record. A changed man? For the better? Finally met the right girl? I’m still reeling. Those words were like a slap to my face, and I’m almost certain that’s what he was aiming for. He once told me I was the only girl for him. That I made him the best version of himself. That there would never be anyone else for him. That I was it. Forever and always. So what? Was he lying back then, or is he lying now? Or has he always been a liar and I’m only just seeing him now for what he truly is?

“You okay?”

I startle from my thoughts, turning to see Harley watching me from the driver’s seat. And it’s at that moment I realize we’ve stopped. I glance out the window to see my house shrouded in darkness, and I exhale a heavy breath, grasping at my purse in my lap. “Thanks for the ride,” I murmur, reaching for the door handle. But I stop mid-way, glancing back at him, and the words are out of my mouth before I even have a chance to consider them. “He really loves her, doesn’t he?”

Harley seems to hesitate a moment, his eyes looking at me so intently they’re almost looking through me. He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, clearly stalling, but finally he nods, offering me a sad smile. “Yeah, he does.” He shrugs. “But he still shouldn’t have said what he said. There’s a thing called tact, and unfortunately he just proved that he doesn’t seem to have much of that left in him.”

I huff out a defeated breath, pursing my lips as I stare straight ahead through the windshield. “I thought I was imagining it. Actually, I hoped I was imagining it. I didn’t want to accept it. But he really has changed, huh.”

“People change, Murph. There’s nothing wrong with that,” he says with a shrug of his shoulder while inspecting something closely on his steering wheel, and I don’t miss the context within his words. A deep furrow is etched between his brows, his jaw tight as he focuses intently on the cracked leather, picking at it with his thumbnail. He’s awkward. So am I. Things have changed between us, and I know I’m not the only one who feels it.