Damage Repaired

Chapter 36

I attempted to keep my facial expression neutral, but he caught the slight hitch in my breathing and winked. "Follow through with it, but keep me updated," he spoke firmly to the person on the other side of the phone, then hung up and tossed it on the couch. "Is there a reason I just canceled a meeting I can't afford to miss?"

"Because you work too much and need a break."

"Mm, did Frank put you up to this?"

"No, I put myself up to this," I corrected, adjusting the tote on my shoulder again.

Nathaniel's eyes flickered to the bag, then back up at me. "Why are you here, Anastazi?"

I sucked in a breath before answering. "I'm calling a truce."

"A truce?" The corners of his mouth tilted upwards when I nodded. "Which means what now?"

"Which means," I started, staring down at my feet instead of at him. "That I'm done trying to fight for answers, I'm done wallowing in my pain and using it as an excuse not to have anything to do with you, the person you are now, not four years ago. So I'm done with it all, and maybe moving forward, we can even become friends."

"I thought that was the second to last thing we could ever be," he murmured the words I told him when we went out to eat after an event.

My eyes slid from my feet to his face. "I thought so too."

"Mm," he took a step closer and I willed myself to stand still instead of taking a step back. "And have you changed your mind about the last thing we could ever be?"

"No," I answered immediately and for a brief second thought, I saw a look of disappointment flash across his usually stoic face. Becoming more with him was out of the question. Being friends or as close as we could get to being friends was all I could give, and if he wasn't going to accept that then—

"I'll be whatever you need me to be," he said, then eyed my bag again. "Is that all you came down here to say?"

"I came down to distract you from work and to thank you for taking care of me the way you did that night," I whispered the last part, hoping he couldn't see the way my cheeks were turning red.

"You don't have to thank me for that, Anastazi," Nathaniel's voice lowered into a whisper. "But you're welcome."

I nodded feeling relieved that I got through the important bits of what I had to say. "Dylan baked these for you." I lied, pulling out a container of chocolate chip cookies that I baked and handing it to him. I scrunched my face when he chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I crossed my arms against my chest and glared up at him.

He shrugged popping open the top and grabbed a cookie that was still warm. "Dylan would happily piss on my dead body, and you expect me to believe he took the time out to bake for me?" Nathaniel smirked knowingly and took a bite, never taking his eyes off me while he chewed slowly. "Unless he poisoned it."

"Well, if he did, you'd be dead by now," I muttered, watching as he finished off the rest of the cookie.

"It was delicious, thank you." He placed the container on the kitchen counter. "What else did Dylan bring for me?"

"That was it," I kept up with the lie even though it was plainly obvious he knew the cookies came from me. "But I brought some things we could do together." I walked around the couch and sat down on the giant rug in the living room trying to keep my hands from nervously shaking as I took the tote bag off my shoulder and pulled out two blank mini canvases with a variety of paint and brushes, a box of UNO cards, connect four, scrabble and a digital timer.