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Luckily, she rolls her eyes and leaves, and I’m left alone for the first time tonight.
Alone and thinking about Claire.
It annoys me that she’s still on my mind, but I can’t help wondering what she’s doing right now. I keep picturing her making out with some guy in one of these shitty dive bars, and the thought alone is almost enough to send me looking for her.
I won’t.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about it.
28
Claire
“Claire?”
Garret’s voice is soft.
Calm.
Familiar.
And I hate the mixture of feelings that wash over me at the sound of it.
“Uh, hi.” I hate how small my voice sounds.
“Are you okay?” I hate how that question makes me long for his comfort.
“Yeah.” I’m not sure how I can hate that one word, but I do.
“I’m worried about you.” That sentence alone makes my eyes burn.
Staring up at the ceiling, I take a steadying breath and try to clear my thoughts. “You didn’t sound worried in your texts.”
There’s a pause before he answers, but that pause feels like an eternity. “I was mad.”
His response makes me roll my eyes, and I suddenly feel like I have my bearings again. His voice was barely above a whisper and my suspicions get the best of me. “Why are you being so quiet?”
“What do you mean?”
My brows furrow and I’m suddenly not sure if he’s actually calm or if he’s trying to avoid being overheard. “Where’s Shelly?”
He scoffs on the other end of the phone. “Seriously, Claire? I love you. Shelly is just a friend. Was just a friend. I told her we can’t hang out anymore because it obviously upset you.”
I hate that I want to believe him.
“Garret, please don’t lie to me.” I want to sound stronger, but I sound like I’m begging him.
“Baby, I’m not lying. This is all in your head. You’re making yourself go crazy over something that doesn’t even matter.” His voice is so smooth on the other end of the phone.
Too smooth.
“Something that doesn’t even matter? You had a girl in your apartment. You had your arm around her—”
“No, I didn’t.”
I try to think back and picture what I saw when I opened the door to his apartment. I could have sworn the two of them were snuggled up close and that he had his arm around her.
Before I can think of a response, he goes on to say, “You’re so obsessed with this idea of me cheating on you that you’re remembering things wrong. We weren’t even sitting close enough for me to reach her.”
