"There's someone else."
My heart plummets to the pit of my stomach. He's found someone else.
A flood of panicked thoughts hits me all at once.
"Oh."
I turn my gaze to the water, unable to look at him.
My plan has failed.
It turns out, I have no idea what I'm doing.
Still, if he has someone else, that's the point, isn't it? Him being happy. Fixing what I've broken. Even if it doesn't work the way I've intended, this is good. This is what I want.
At least, that's what I tell myself as jealousy and shame claw their way up my throat.
This is the moment I've been dreading... realizing there's no way I'll ever truly get over him.
I love him. I will always love him. I'll just have to live with that.
"Well, I'm glad you found someone else," I say, forcing myself to speak through the knot in my chest. "I'm happy for you, but..." I push a smile to my lips, even though it feels like my entire face might crack. "You're dating someone, and you didn'teventell me?"
"No. We're not dating."
I frown, confusion overtaking my misery. "Is itmore of a casual thing?”
"No."
I finally look at him, the wind whipping around us, my confusion mirrored in his expression.
"I haven't done anything about how I feel. Not yet. Because I've been chicken-shit about it," he admits.
A nervous laugh bubbles out of me. "Do you want my help or something?"
"They don't know how I feel."
"Then show them. Maybe—"
"I do." His voice cuts through the wind, sharp and certain. His breathing quickens, his grip on my shoulders tightening slightly.
"I would literally do anything for them," he says, words tumbling out in a rush. "I pick them up almost every day, first thing in the morning. They talk to me about things no one else does. They get me... like no one else does. They're always helping me, even when I'm being a complete idiot, which is most of the time, and they genuinely care about my girls."
My heart hammers so hard I can barely breathe. His hands move to cradle my face, and instinctively, I grab his wrists, my thumbs brushing over his hands like he always did to mine.
"They're a walking contradiction—a certified genius with the social awareness of a garden gnome. Courageous, relentless, with a wit that could disarm a bomb... and yet completely oblivious. When I turn on the charm, they assumeit’s a joke. Meanwhile, they stand there and let some spray-tanned Adonis drenched in dollar-store aftershave treat them like something they scraped off their shoe."
A hot sting pricks the corners of my eyes. I press the heels of my hands against them, a choked laugh bubbling up my throat.
"Vince..." I manage, my voice wobbling. "Hold on. Were you jealousTed?”
"No," he snaps, deadpan,a little too quickly.
That does it. The laughter escapes in full force.
"Vince..." My voice cracks as the words pour out of me. "I broke up withTedbecause I'm in love with you." Tears stream down my face, but I can't stop smiling. "No one is the same as you. I tried. I really tried, but I can't ever not be in love with you. I can't."
A slow, melting smile spreads across his face. He laughs softly, his thumbs brushing my cheeks, wiping away my tears.
