“I know, I know.” I took a step back and assessed the lock. “Can you open it with your tools or something?”
He shook his head. “Toolbox is upstairs.”
“Oh,” I said flatly.
I started to bang loudly on the door, but Giles grabbed my hands.
“Whoa there. Let’s not freak out the guests.” He steered me back toward the couch, and I reluctantly followed. “Everyone knows we're down here. Someone will be by to check on us any minute.”
“Okay,” I mumbled.
He leaned back and resumed staring at me. “Now that we’re stuck here, are you sure you don’t want to talk to me?”
“You did this on purpose.” I pouted, eyeing him warily.
He smirked. “I don’t think I could have anticipated you still not fixing that damn lock.”
We sat there in silence for a few more minutes. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, scared to finally say the words out loud.
“Remember how I told you my ex cheated on me?” I finally whispered.
Instead of responding, he inched closer to me on the couch and nudged my knee with his to encourage me to continue. I wasn’t sure if his knee pressing into mine was comforting or making me nervous. Maybe it was both.
“I didn’t exactly tell you the whole story.” I took a deep breath, ready to blurt it all out and get it over with. “Right after it happened, I found out he had proposed to her. That hurt. Like a lot. I had been with him foreight years. That was supposed to be me…” I trailed off as tears began to form in my eyes again.
“Mattie,” Giles whispered. He was lightly stroking my upper arm now in a circular motion.
“She’s pregnant.” I forced the words out of my mouth, and tears fell as I did so. “I know I should be over it. They’re clearly happy and ready to start their family.” My voice cracked, and Giles reached out to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear. “But it still hurts. I thought I was supposed to be with him forever. I thought she wasmy friend. I feel like they got to live happily ever after, and I got everything taken away from me. It isn’t fair.”
“It’s not fair,” Giles agreed.
“I don’t even have friends anymore.” I looked up at him. “I feel stupid for getting so upset over people that don’t care about me at all.”
“You shouldn’t feel stupid. That’s an insane way to have a relationship end. Anyone would be hurt by that. And most people would let it stop them from living for a while. You’ve been trying to pretend everything is fine for weeks. I know you’re strong, but you don’t have to be okay, Mattie.”
“I’m not that strong.” I sighed before continuing. “Remember that golf cart accident I told you about? After I found out she was pregnant, I was way too drunk and got upset. That’s why I crashed it. I’m pathetic.”
“You arenotpathetic.” He raised his hand cautiously before wiping away one of my tears with his thumb. “You came out here to start over. That takes guts. And look at you now.” He nudged my shoulder. “You’re turning this place around. You can stand outside even when it’s below thirty degrees. You’rebasicallya professional snowboarder.”
I laughed at his last two comments and wiped my eyes.
“And you’re wrong about not having any friends.” He hesitated. “I’m your friend.”
I smiled but dropped my gaze as I thought about our tumultuous relationship. “Really? Sometimes it feels like I annoy you.”
“If this is about when we first met, I told you I’m sorry.”
“It’s not that.” I shook my head. “I just mean—I know it’s none of my business, but whenever I ask you personal questions, it seems like you’re closed off. And I know I’m one to talk because I haven’t exactly been forthcoming either…”
His eyes looked pained, and I regretted bringing this up.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I guess I just wanted you to know that if you do want to be friends, then I’m here if you ever want someone to talk to.”
He covered his mouth with his hand and slowly dragged it down his face.
“I do want to talk to you. It’s just hard for me to talk about my parents.”
I reached over and took his hand, squeezing it in mine.
