He swore quietly. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, if that’s what you want. Or you never have to speak to me again. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
Part of medidwant to know everything. Closure, right? I didn’t get that before. I hadn’twantedit. I didn’t needmore details when I’d had a front row seat to my fiancé and his best friend falling in love with each other.
God, I didn’t want to choose. My entire life was about making decisions and calling the shots. It was the last thing I wanted to do when I went home at night. In both of my serious relationships, I hadn’t had to think about anything.
Now I had to rethinkeverything.
“I-I…” I stammered. “I don’t know what to do.”
A pause. “Are you safe?”
“Y-yeah. He’s not dangerous. Just pissed he got caught.”
“Why don’t you save my number?” he suggested. “I’m blocking this one, and I’m never going to see Nathan again.”
I winced. He hated being called by his full name. At least, he hated it whenIdid it. “Why would I want to save your number?”
The guy sighed. “Just in case you everwant to know. I can show you everything: Call logs, text messages, the app profile.” I groaned. Fuck, he’d been ondatingapps and I had no idea? “Look,” he continued, “I know I’m only a stranger on the other end of a phone right now, and probably someone you don’t like very much. But you sound like you’rereallytorn up about this.”
My head dropped against the bathroom door. A broken, hollow laugh bubbled out of me. “That’s the understatement of the year.”
“There’s probably not much I can do to convince you that I’m not a bad guy, but giving yousomethingis all I can offer. That, and my apologies. I mentioned that I’mreallysorry?”
“Yeah, thanks,” I said dryly, and I ended the call.
For a long moment, I stared at that screen. “Hottie with a Harley” stared back at me, taunting me. I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I took a screenshot and texted it to myself. That way, I’d have no regrets. Right? I could always delete the message if I decided not to use it.
My headthunkedagainst the bathroom door again. Nate’s heavy footfalls paced one way down the hall, then the other. Closing my eyes, I took a series of deep breaths—long enough for the tears to stop burning.
Then, after gathering every scrap of courage I could, I pulled myself to my feet, splashed my face with cold water, and exited the bathroom.
Nate stopped pacing and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Whatever he told you, it’s a lie.”
Silently, I pressed his phone to his chest and simply… walked away.
“Eli?” he called after me.
I didn’t answer. I was already in my bedroom, pulling his belongings from my closet and dresser. Returning to the bathroom, I grabbed his toothbrush and his overly expensive bath products from the shower and threw everything into the first duffel bag I could find.
He chased me the whole way, blubbering half-assed excuses. When he ran out of those, he switched to empty apologies. He didn’t stop spouting his bullshit until I’d found all his things, zipped up the duffel, and tossed his shit outside.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I spat, tone laced with venom. “I’m throwing youout.”
“E—”
“Get out! We’re done.”
I rarely yelled, and Nate knew it. He slunk out the door. Before I shut it, I stripped out of his hoodie and jeans, tossing those after him as well. The cold air on my bare skin nearly made me regret it.
But the sound of the door slamming behind him was worth it.
CHAPTER 02: ZACH
What the hell am I doing?
It had been nearly a month since I got a phone call in the middle of the night from the boyfriend of the guy I’d been hooking up with.
