I set the water bottle down on the counter a little harder than necessary. “You don’t get to analyze my life with her,” I say. “Or anyone.”
“She didn’t ask me to,” Drew replies. “I asked her.”
That lands.
I look at him then. Really look. He’s tired. Wired. Concerned in a way that has nothing to do with fear and everything to do with recognition.
“She’s not dangerous,” I say flatly.
“I didn’t say she was,” he counters. “I said she’s deliberate.”
I scoff. “So am I.”
“Yes,” he says quietly. “That’s the problem.”
I turn away, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck. The house feels smaller tonight. Charged.
“She told me she wasn’t going anywhere,” Drew adds. “But that she was letting you decide how close you wanted her.”
I close my eyes.
Drew’s voice softens. “Sebastian… that’s not how people who don’t matter talk.”
I open my eyes and meet his gaze. “She’s manipulating you,” I say.
He shakes his head. “No. She’s manipulatingyou.” He says it calmly. Like a man pointing out I’ve been bleeding for a while and just noticed.
The silence stretches again.
I don’t deny it. I can’t.
All I can see is Ivy in that café, calm and composed. Exactly where she wanted to be.
All I can hear is her telling Aaron she’d see him on Thursday, like she was excited to see him again. Like she was making a promise.
I hate promises that don’t belong to me.
I know it shouldn’t bother me. I’ve drawn the lines in the sand between her and me.
She deserves more than a man who refuses to commit. Someone better than a damaged soul like me.
Drew takes a step closer. “You don’t have to do this alone.”
“I am alone,” I snap. Then quieter, more honest than I intend, I add, “I chose that.”
“And now?” he asks.
I don’t answer.
Because the truth is, I didn’t choose this. I didn’t choose Ivy noticing me. I didn’t choose to want her attention solely on me, and no one else.
And I didn’t choose the way my chest tightened when I realized she could walk away—and still control me.
Drew sighs. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
I look past him, toward the darkened balcony doors. “I won’t.”
But the certainty isn’t there anymore.
