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“Yes, I’m coming up.”
I squealed into the phone and slammed my feet up and down on the balcony floor in my excitement. “Thank God. I can’t wait to have you here!”
“Me either,” she said, sounding happy and upbeat before her tone changed. “So, I ran into Nick last night.”
My heart lurched straight into my throat. The simple mention of his name still affected me, made me feel . . . something. Even though I wished I didn’t, I missed him. It was easier trying to pretend I was fine than accept the reality that I wasn’t when I really wanted to be.
“Where?”
“At the bar near campus. He was so drunk, Jess. God, he wouldn’t shut up about you. He asked me a thousand questions. And he looked like hell.”
“Good,” I said, then immediately regretted it. “I don’t mean that.”
“Sure you do.”
I sighed. “It’s sick that I want him to hurt, but I’m hurting too, Rach. Still. And I want him to want me back. Why doesn’t he want me back?” I squeezed my eyes shut as a breeze blew over me.
“He had a one-track mind last night, and it was all you. I’m convinced he’s not over you. He asked if you were happy, how you liked your classes, if you were dating anyone, when you were coming back. God, he wouldn’t shut up, and I stopped answering him and told him if he wanted to know so bad, he could call you himself and ask. That shut him up real quick.”
I bit back a laugh. This wasn’t funny. My broken heart was no laughing matter. “Did he say he’d call?”
“No. He walked away.”
“I don’t understand him at all,” I admitted, feeling defeated.
“Me either sometimes.”
“Trying to figure him out gives me a headache.”
Despite that, I loved hearing all of this. Knowing that Nick had asked about me filled me with hope. Maybe we weren’t doomed. Maybe there was a future for us somewhere down the line.
“Before he walked away, though, Jess, he was crazy. Relentless. He forced me to answer one question, and he wouldn’t let go of my arm until I did.”
“What question?” I asked, on pins and needles waiting for her answer.
Rachel huffed into the phone. “He wanted to know if you were happy.”
I clutched my free hand against my chest. “What’d you tell him?”
“I told him you hated it and it sucked, but you were doing what you had to for your future.”
Pursing my lips, I nodded in agreement, even though she couldn’t see me. “What’d he say to that?”
“Nothing. That’s when he dropped my arm and walked away. But I chased after him.”
My heart raced inside my chest. “What? You did? Why?”
“Because I had that stupid poker chip in my purse, and I remembered only after he started practically running away. I pulled it out and gave it to him.”
My heart stopped racing, stopped beating completely. I held my breath, pain stabbing me in the gut. “What’d he say?”
“Nothing, but the expression on his face almost made me throw up. He looked like I’d kicked his puppy into oncoming traffic.”
“But he didn’t say anything?”
“No. He shoved it in his pocket and left. But I swear, Jess, he looked like he was about to fucking cry.”
“Yeah, right. Nick Fisher cry?” I fought back a sick laugh as my heart allowed the familiar ache of his loss to return. I honestly hated that we weren’t together. “I don’t believe it.”
