Page 165 of Love Felt Like This

Well shit.

Was I really that blind? That hopelessly enamored with him?

Rob’s eyes widen. “I don’t mean that he was awful. You…it wasn’t…” He groans. “It just…seemed like it worked for you guys.”

I chew my lower lip. Maybe that was our dynamic. Little pokes. Little jabs. Until the knife slashed. Or maybe I realized sharp objects just weren’t for me.

“You deserved better than him,” Rob says.

“What?”

At that point, like a ghoul crawling its way back, my phone buzzes with a text.

It’s Beau.

And, in my gut—not all that deep, actually—I want to throw this phone across the room.

“Does he text you a lot?” Rob asks.

My head jerks up to his, and I inhale. “Lately, yeah.”

“Since you started hanging out with Griffin?”

A laugh chokes out of me. “Yeah.”

“Block him, then.”

I narrow my eyes. “What?”

“Block him.”

“People do that?”

“Yeah. I have, like, at least ten people blocked.”

“Huh.”

I stare at my screen, at the texts upon texts, running a finger over my lips.

“Do it,” Rob says.

With shaking fingers, I listen and do what I should have done forever ago.

I block him.

And Rob watches, forcing a smile when I finally look back at him.

Is this another betrayal? At what point have I caused Rob too much heartbreak? But…I feel good about this decision. It’s like a weight falling from my shoulders.

I pat the edge of the bed near Rob’s gangly knee. “Thanks.”

Rob silently nods, then says, “You deserve Griffin.”

I immediately jerk my hand back to my side, as if sizzling lava just touched my fingers. I even feel a little hot.

I sputter out, “That’s not…we’re…” Well, what the heck are we? I don’t know. Does Griffin know? Have we ever known?

Strangers, sort of dinner dates, fake boyfriend-girlfriend, colleagues, friends, lovers…