Days went by and I was starting to wonder if I’d be permanently stuck in a numb haze.

Avoiding Aaron was easy enough. I woke up every morning before dawn and rode to my parents’ house to retrieve the mail from the previous day and feed the cat before the sun came up. It ruined the rest of my day and made me cranky by the time my shift ended, but it was well worth it.

My parents wouldn’t be on vacation forever. Soon enough, avoiding him would become easier than ever. I just needed to be patient.

“Jess? You sure you’re okay?”

I glanced at Mandy and shrugged. She’d been pestering me all week about my foul mood, even on the days we didn’t have a shift together.

“I’m fine.”

She didn’t believe the lie on Monday and she was still skeptical on Friday. Her lips pursed together for a brief moment before she blew out a harsh breath.

“All right. Listen, if you want to talk—I’m here. In the meantime, I was wondering if I could take your shift tomorrow. I could use the extra hours and you look like you could use a day off.”

But without work, how would I keep myself from thinking about Aaron? Glancing around the shop, all I could think about was the night he showed up and asked for my assistance.

His presence had already tainted it. It’d probably be easier to forget by diving into a deep clean of my apartment.

“Okay. Thanks, Mandy.”

“You’re very welcome. Why don’t you head home and get started on your downtime? It’s slow as hell.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely. Just…” she trailed off as she gave me a worried look and a small smile. “Feel better, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

* * *

A night of not closing up was a blessing. Between waking up at five in the morning and working five shifts in a row, I was physically exhausted. My mental state was in even worse shape.

My feet practically dragged across the pavement to the car and I slumped into the seat with a heavy sigh. After taking a moment to talk myself up and make sure I was awake enough to drive, I started the short ride to my apartment complex.

The streets were fairly empty, but I kept a very close eye out for animals and other vehicles. I was the definition of a safe driver—which made it that much more irritating when a set of blue lights pulled up behind the car.

“There’s nobody coming. Just pass already,” I muttered as I flipped on the four-ways and pulled to the side of the road. I scoffed in disbelief when the car pulled over behind me. “What the hell?”

The driver side door opened and I almost screamed as it hit me. Damn it! The scorned woman in me wanted to speed off, but the nervous wreck side warned me to stay put. Running from the police was an invitation for trouble. I slammed my eyes shut and prayed. Maybe it wasn’t even Aaron. Maybe I had a taillight out. Maybe—

There was a tap on my window and I slowly turned my head just in time to see Aaron leaning down.

Fuck. My. Life.

I pressed the button to roll down the window and snapped, “Are you serious?!”

Aaron’s easy-going smile faltered and it was like being punched in the stomach. I was torn being feeling bad about the sadness in his eyes and being rightly pissed off that he had the nerve to pull me over and smile like nothing was wrong.

“I haven’t seen you for a few days,” he said awkwardly. “I know you wouldn’t let poor Sugar starve just because of me.”

“I’ve been going in the morning,” I grated.

Of course, now that he knew that, I’d be changing my schedule to go after my shifts. Not that it’d make much of a difference if he intended to follow me around.

“Oh. Listen, Jessa—”

“So what did I do? I know I wasn’t speeding. Do I have a brake light out?”

“I didn’t stop you for that and you know it,” he said dryly.

“So you didn’t pull me over for breaking the law? You’re just abusing your power because I’m the one ignoring you this time? How’s it feel?”

“Shitty,” he grated between clenched teeth. “But I can’t try to make things better if you won’t fucking talk to me.”

Make things better? Was he for real? I scoffed and shook my head, staring at the steering wheel as I muttered, “Let’s just go back to how things were when you were avoiding me.”

“Don’t say that, sweetheart.”

“Please back up.”

I pressed down on the brake and put the car in drive, watching from the corner of my eye as he took a step back. He didn’t stop me from pulling away and his headlights didn’t follow.

Once they were completely out of sight, I let out a shaky sigh and willed myself not to cry.