Page 75 of Tough Love
“I don’t know,” I answer as I dig around in my bag for my phone. “Probably just a friend.”
A really pretty, curvy,closefriend.Ugh.One who’s clearly been more important than me these past weeks.
I glance up again to check he’s still there, and fight the ache in my chest as he turns to give this woman his full focus, using his hands to gesture size or something of the like while he talks.
My thumb swipes right, and I hammer in my passcode as though the screen is her face and my thumb is my foot. I open the message thread, and stoop to a new low.
I get you don’t want to talk to me, but Briar misses you. Any chance you could visit?
I’m going to hell, fast-tracked in first class.
He nods at whatever the woman says, retrieving his phone from his pocket. My eyes narrow as I take in every damn twitch and nuance of his body language. His shoulders drop a little, he skids a foot out to widen his stance, and even from this far, I can catch the frown that mars his brow as he sighs.
The woman tries to look over his arm at what’s on his screen. My fist curls, itching to smack the intrusiveness right out of her.
Evan quickly kills the screen and pockets his phone again, gesturing to the store. The woman smiles, clasping his arm in a quick embrace before she ducks inside.
“Can we go?” Briar whines, tugging on the bag of goodies.
“Yeah.” I hesitate, watching as Evan sighs again and then follows her in. “We’re done here.”
So done.
TWENTY-SEVEN
“He did what?” Jess whisper yells as I scoop Briar off the sofa.
He made it almost to the end of his movie before his heavy lids didn’t want to open anymore.
“Just ignored it.” I hoist Briar against my chest and start the trek to his room.
Jess follows. “Who do you think the woman was?”
I sigh, setting Briar in his bed and adjusting the covers. I’ve got no idea who she was, but the way she hung off him, her openly flirtatious behaviour, and the fact he didnothingto dissuade it shows me how he feels about me, at the very least.
I’m broken goods, damaged and tainted. He looks at me; he sees things he doesn’t want to remember. And really, I can’t blame him.
I shrug in response to Jess’s question as I ease Briar’s door shut behind me. “I don’t think I want to know.”
“He seemed so nice though, such a sweetie.”
“Because hewas.” A twinge shoots through my chest at the vivid memories of the times we spent together. “I thought he was genuine too, and then all it took was one crazy confession of his and he bolted. He gave up”—I snap my fingers—“just like that.” I shake my head. “Makes me wonder what else he lied about, you know?”
Jess gravitates to the fridge as we re-enter the open living area, and pulls out the unopened bottle of wine. “Well, now that Briar’s down, I think we can crack this open.”
“Please.” I groan, flopping into the armchair. “It just sucks, you know? Like, I thought this was it, there was a reason we’d bumped into each other after so long.”
“Yeah,” she says softly. “I know.”
“I might go to the pet store tomorrow,” I say dryly.
“What for?” Jess smirks as she sets down our drinks.
“Start my cat collection, considering I’m destined to be a lonely old lady.”
She chuckles, ripping open a bag of Doritos. “It’s not that bad.”
“It is, Jess.” I spin my body around, sitting up. “It sucks, going through the whole getting to know someone phase just to have them reject me when the truth comes out.” I shake my head, scuffing my feet over the carpet. “Besides, I don’t want anyone else. There’s a reason why I hardly ever dated before now. What the fuck am I supposed to do?”