“Oh, yeah,” Gwen said but I didn’t look up. I couldn’t. “So sad for Cami’s sister.”
I read the headline. Then read it again. For the first time, I saw the asshole that she’d been engaged to. At least I hoped that she still wasn’t after all of this. The prick was a cheating bastard, and there it was splashed all across the local paper.
“Don’t go running out of here with that one. Sketch already took off with the first customer copy.”
“He saw this?”
“Yeah, my guess is that he was taking it back to the shop to show Cami,” Gwen said and the corners of her lips turned down. “Apparently Laurel called off the engagement a while ago and I bet that this is the family’s way to save face or whatever. I think her parents kicked her out of her place too because Mouse said something about going over there to help her move tomorrow.”
“Shit,” I said as everything came together in my head.
Suddenly, all I could think about was getting to her. I had to make sure she was okay. I felt partly responsible for all of it.
“Forget the coffee,” I said and made my way to my bike like my ass was on fire.
I jogged up the steps to her building and was halted by the guy watching the door. I thanked my lucky stars because the guy that was working the desk remembered me and told the door guy to let me in. He waved me on with a sad smile.
Shit. I bet everyone knew. I felt really bad for her right now.
I knocked, unsure of what I should do next.
She answered the door looking a little worse for the wear. Her eyes were puffy and a little glassy. She swayed a bit but caught herself. She was drunk. Which maybe I couldn’t blame her. She righted herself, stood tall and put her hand on her hip.
“What are you doing here?” she asked with a whole lot of bite in her tone.
Since she had barely opened the door I guessed it was a bad idea to ask to come in. I didn’t even think about it. Her sister was probably there already trying to comfort her. And I would have bet that Laurel didn’t want anyone to know that I was here or that I had been before.
I didn’t get a chance to say anything.
“No, I don’t want you here,” she said and she actually poked me in the chest so hard that I flinched. “This is all your fault! My life is ruined because of you. If you hadn’t kissed me then I never would have called off my engagement. I never would have been a cheater. Not that it matters because clearly, I wasn’t the only one in my relationship.”
The last few sentences were said low and it was almost as if she didn’t want anyone to hear.
“Laurel,” I said keeping my voice low and even. “Don’t do this. I came here to check on you. Because I…” Only I wasn’t sure what I was really going to say.
I cared?
Did I?
Yeah, okay, I did. I cared about the prissy, too good for me, princess.
“I was worried, alright,” I finished. Maybe it was a cop out but it was still the truth.
“I don’t care. You are less than nothing to me,” she said and I couldn’t lie, it cut like a knife. “Just… just stay away, please.”
The look in her eyes broke me. She couldn’t stand to be around me but this was for a different reason. I’d hurt her. I had broken her world and there was nothing I could say or do to fix that. Because of me, she blamed herself. She marked herself as something way worse than she was. I had wanted to kiss her, both times, and I made the first move every time. I put her in the position to be confused. Yeah, right now I felt like the piece of shit that she saw me as.
Again, the door closed in my face. I had no choice but to leave. Only, I didn’t go far.
I had barely made it back to my bike and settled down for a long wait when I saw Cami walking out of the building. I stayed there and made sure she got in her car okay and drove off. Then I made the move to go back in. This time nobody tried to stop me.
