My chest caves in. “I can’t.” It’s a knee-jerk reaction answer, and if I wasn’t already so tense, I’d likely be shaking.
“Can’t or won’t.”
“Both,” I tell him, honestly.
His hand skims down my arm, fingers just barely grazing my wrist. A touch so light, so careful, it makes my heart squeeze.
“Ellie—”
I pull away before he can finish. Before I do something reckless. Before I lose what little sense I have left.
Instead, I do the responsible thing and get inside my car.
“Why did you keep it?” he repeats. “Please.”
Before closing the door, my eyes lock with his one last time. “Like I said, some things are permanent.”
“You did what?!” Scottie screeches over FaceTime later that night, her voice piercing even through the connection. Still wearing her stage makeup, she looks half-crazed, her wide, blue eyes glued to the screen.
“Scotland, stop yelling!” I snap, wincing.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she sings with a sardonic edge. “It’s just that you went to Dom’s house after being adamant that you were going to avoid him at all costs. Excuse me for needing a moment to process this!”
I sigh, regretting the decision to bring it up at all, but grateful I left some parts out—like the part where I think he asked me out on a date. I’m keeping that one to myself.
Scottie and I barely have time to catch up these days, and I’m wasting our call talking about Dominic. We’ve been best friends since elementary school. A boy shoved her so then I shoved him and made him cry, the rest is history. She’s the only one who knows everything that happened between me and Dominic. She’s been there for me through being blissfully in love to devastatingly heartbroken, and everything in between.
Coming closer to the camera, her expression turns sly, her red hair falling in wisps as it unravels from a ballerina-esquebun. “Well? Don’t leave me hanging. What happened? Did you two finally have it out? Did he grovel? Did you grovel?”
“None of the above,” I mutter, shifting uncomfortably on the couch.
Her brows shoot up. “Wait. You said he had a girl over. Was she just some badge bunny or…?”
My forehead creases. “I literally have no idea what that means.”
Scottie laughs through her teeth. “It’s women who go after police officers, you know ‘guys with badges.’”
I shake my head. “No, he said she was a coworker. Not a badge bunny, more like she’s one of the badges.”
Scottie throws her hands in the air, nearly sending her phone flying. “Tell me everything. What does she look like? Is she pretty? I mean, probably not. You’re gorgeous, but, like, objectively.”
This is the downside of having a best friend who’s an actress. Scottie doesn’t just talk—she performs, every word infused with enough energy to power a small city. People think I’m dramatic, but then they meet Scottie and quickly realize I’m the calm one by comparison.
“She’s…pretty,” I admit reluctantly, picking at a loose thread on my sleeve. “Like the kind of girl you’d expect him to be with. Petite, fit, huge boobs. She looked Latina, likely Mexican, so I’m sure his mom will love that.”
Her eyes pinch. “But she’s just a coworker. If there was something going on between them, I think it would’ve been more obvious when you showed up. So, what if she’s pretty, she’s not you.”
“Yeah, I don’t know,” I sigh, slumping back into the cushions. “I shouldn’t even care. We’re not together. We haven’t been for years. For all I know, he’s had tons of girlfriends since me.”
“But it still stings,” Scottie finishes for me, her voice losing some of its enthusiasm.
I nod, biting my lip. “It does. And I hate that it does. I’m so stupid for even going over there.”
“Stop it.” Her tone is resolute. “You’re not stupid.” She pauses a beat, and her head cocks to the side. “Whydidyou go? It’s very unlike you.”
My shoulders lift as I try to look uninterested. Sadly, I’m not as good of an actress as Scottie so she doesn’t buy my act for a second. “I wanted to see what the house looked like. And I thought because it’s a weekday, that he would be on duty. I figured I’d get a quick peek at it before heading into work.”
Her brows furrow. “So, the plan was to sneak around his house? That’s not weird at all.”
