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“You know I offered to take a cab five times.” I came close to insisting. But, even with his attitude, I’m glad I didn’t. I’m coming apart at the seams.
The familiarity of my obnoxious, intimacy avoiding friend in the driver’s seat is the only thing holding me together.
Dean Maddox is holding me together.
What a terrifying thought.
“You know Ryan is going to kill me,” he says.
“He’s not. He’s gonna thank you for taking care
of me.” That’s the kind of guy he is.
Dean chuckles. “Yeah. He is. You like that?”
“That he’s considerate? Why wouldn’t I?”
“You broke his heart. He shouldn’t give a fuck.”
“We’re still friends.” In theory. One day.
“You’re gonna be his friend?”
The apprehension in his voice tugs at my heart. I can’t imagine my life without Ryan. But Dean is right. I can’t be his friend right now. Not after that second-choice slap in the face. “I promised I would.”
“But you’re not.”
“Not right away.”
“You’ll ghost all four of us.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Yeah, you would.” He shakes his head. “You forget how well I know you.”
I shrug, playing coy.
“Please, Leigh. I watched you ghost too many guys.”
“Not that many.”
“That many.”
“I couldn’t disappear on guys who knew where I worked.”
“Which is why you stopped dating guys you met at the bar.”
He’s right.
It’s terrifying how well Dean knows me. But I guess we’ve been friendly for a long time now. Four years. And good friends for half that.
I want to disappear. I want to forget about the last two years.
I want to do whatever it takes to make this hurt less.
But I can’t run anymore.
I ran from every guy who ever hurt me.
