'Just wait,’ Alex mocked. ‘She’ll come back.’ Now look, McLean. You waited while she went right back into his arms. Nicely done.
He realized that he had overshot his destination by quite a distance, and he turned around to get to his car. He just wanted to get away.
But just as he was turning his key in the ignition, the passenger door opened, and there was Tana.
“Alex,” she started, “What did you think you saw?”
“It doesn’t matter what I saw,” he replied coldly, avoiding her eyes. “I have no claim over you.”
“Alex, what do you think you saw?”
“Fine. You really wanna know?” he asked. “I came down to this park so fast I couldn’t stand it. My Tana had told me to meet her at our park. I show up, and what to I see? My Tana in the arms of her ex. My heart just fell apart, Tan. It fell apart. I couldn’t even begin to understand what I was doing there. I couldn’t understand anything. So I left. But, like I said, I have no claim over you.”
“I owe you an explanation though,” Tana said, feeling guilty for putting Alex through all this. “Jake and I met to return eachother’s stuff. Then he told me that he’s leaving. His mom’s pretty sick. They’re not even sure what it is. I was trying to soothe his fears. Nothing more.”
In spite of himself, Alex felt relieved. Jake was gonna be gone. But all he told Tana was, “That sux. Poor guy. Oh, why did you want me to come down here?”
Tana took a deep breath before answering. “It’s about yesterday.”
“Tana-“ Alex began.
“No, let me talk. You were right. I like you… a lot. But you’re also right about another thing. I’m not ready to fall in love again.”
“Tana,” Alex said, turning to her, “I don’t wanna rush you into anything. But you gotta admit that this feels so right.”
“I know it does. I want this, too. But I’m not ready. I’ve got too much going on in my life. You’ve got too much.”
“What if we took it real slow? Nothing big. Just let me know that you’re my girl.”
“Alex… I can’t. And what about you? You’re only in town a little longer. You’ve got so much going on already. Why add me to your list of things to worry about?”
Alex’s chocolate brown eyes locked right on Tana’s emerald ones. “I’ll worry about you anyway. Tana, I really need you. I won’t let my job ruin that. I just wanna take it slow. Please.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this. Okay. But remember, real slow. Oh God… I shouldn’t be doing this.”
“You won’t regret it, I promise.”
And with a quick hug, it was sealed.