Taylor

Chapter Fifteen

"That's why I'm not wringing your neck, though a part of me seriously wants to," Colonel Fields said as we stood at the bottom of Emily's porch steps. After a moment, he stuck his hand out and smiled. "It's not every day you get to meet a real hero."

The last word had my chest constricting tightly. I shook his hand, unable to give him much of a smile back, and quickly withdrew from his grasp as took a step back. "I need to get home. I'm... I'm sorry for what happened last night, Sir."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to."

He turned and went back up the stairs, freeing me to go home, but not without flooding my chest and stomach with guilt. He was right. I should apologize to Emily. Even if I planned on never talking to her again, she still deserved an apology. As did Luke. I rubbed my hands over my face and sighed. Things would have been a lot less complicated if I had just stayed away from them all like I had wanted. I was an idiot for being any kind of friendly. But it was too late now.

I grabbed my phone and texted both Luke and Emily."Can I see you today?"

Luckily—or unfortunately, I wasn't sure which—both of them responded with a yes. I made a time to see both, then ate my now-cold pizza. Luke was having dinner with his parents, so he swung by beforehand to talk, or really to let me talk. Because all he did was stand and wait for me to start. There was a no-nonsense look in his eyes that told me he wasn't interested in beating around the bush. So, I didn't.

"I'm sorry, Luke. What I did was wrong and there's just no excuse."

He stared at me and waited as though what I had said wasn't enough—he wanted more from me than a half-ass apology. It was understandable but annoying. What was I supposed to say other than sorry?

"I don't know what you want me to say. I really am sorry. I didn't come back to start shit."

"Then why did you come back?"

"I had nowhere else to go."

"There are plenty of places to go, Taylor. Even if you had to come here first, you could have been gone already. Yet you're still here. Why?"

"I plan on selling this house and moving away, so don't worry."

"Don't worry? That's all I can do. Clearly there are things going on with you and you need help. But I have a feeling you don't care enough to get it." I watched as he crossed his arms and squared his shoulders. "You aren't welcome to come here and wreak havoc on my life. Or Emily's. She deserves a hell of a lot better than that."

"I know. You both do."

We stared at each other for a moment, until he finally broke the silence. "Why are you here?"

For the first time since arriving back, I thought about why I was here. I had nowhere else to go. That was the first thought that always popped in my head. But was it true? I had gotten a sizable separation pay, I could have put a down payment on a new home and let a realtor handle the selling of this one. So, why was I here?

"Why are you here?" His question was firmer with a hint of irritation.

"I don't know."

"Why. Are. You. Here?" His annoyance was growing.

"Luke—"

"Why are you here, Taylor?!"

"I missed you," I finally said, surprising myself.

But I knew it was the truth. I missed my best friend. I missed what we had and I hated that I ruined it. I wanted to be friends with him again, but I didn't know how to. Luke, on the other hand, didn't seem surprised at my admission at all. In fact, he rolled his eyes.