Page 121 of Keeping Score

“Basically, I’m just asking if you’re together or not.”

Maggie was silent. My hands felt jittery.

“You’re really invested in my dating life, Matt,” I said, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

“I think we’re all just a little confused,” Tara said gently. “We all thought you broke up, but now you’re here together…”

I sighed. Everyone was nosey as hell and the last thing I needed was my relationship under a microscope while we were still trying to figure it out ourselves.

“But you’re here, so you guys must be something, then, right?” The question was a dagger aimed directly at Maggie.

She looked up at me, eyes scanning the entirety of my face as if it were the first time.

“He’s my best friend,” she answered them, never tearing her eyes off mine.

I stilled, fighting the urge to suck in a breath, because I could’ve sworn she was looking at me with something. And for half a second, I felt like I was on the verge of reaching her again.

“Mags—” I started, but Abbey spoke at the same time, her voice louder than my own.

“So, you’re not together?”

“We’re—” I started.

Working through it? Getting there? Going to be fine?

I’m not even sure what would’ve come out of my mouth because I never got the chance to say it.

“No,” Maggie answered flatly. “We’re not.”

And there it went. My heart deflated like a balloon in my chest. My last shred of hope gone.

If Maggie, my territorial, means-business Maggie, was admitting we were over in front of someone she viewed as a threat, then I guess that meant we really were.

It wasn’t enough to hope that someday she might change her mind. To linger in her life and wait for her to be ready, while consoling myself that she didn’t really mean it.

Because all that would do was hurt me more, giving me a front row seat to watch her find someone she actually wanted. Someone she didn’t hesitate to say yes to.

I slumped back in my chair, feeling the finality wash over me.

Everything in my life had fallen apart in a matter of weeks and I felt like I’d been trying to tie it back together with threads of cobweb.

Maggie’s phone rang, and her fingers darted toward her purse, desperate to reach it.

“Excuse me,” she said, looking at the name on the screen. “This is for work, I have to take it.”

And then she took off toward the door, phone pressed to her ear, apparently as eager to escape the table as I was.

My heart shattered into pieces and we hadn’t even gotten our entrées yet. Perfect.

“So,” Matt clapped his hands together. “Now that that’s settled, what’s the move?”

“The move?” I responded dumbly, rubbing a hand over my face in utter exhaustion.

“You’ve got nothing keeping you here anymore. You’re free.”

“Free?” I asked.

I was never trapped.