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I shake my head slowly. “I checked in on his profile when I could… I was concerned, not creepy.” I was definitely creepy, obsessed, and slightly cyber-stalker-ish, but I’m not letting her know that. “The public posts are all I saw since we weren’t ‘friends’ or anything. Saw some posts on his page after his mom’s death, then the post about him leaving. Then he was gone.”
Her eyes soften. “So why come back?”
“Because it was finally safe to come back,” I grumble. “Or so I thought. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m here now, and I’ve already spent a chunk of money restoring this place and my house. But I completely understand if you can’t handle working for me. If I had known, I wouldn’t have hired you. I promise.”
She frowns as she leans closer. “Then I’m glad you didn’t know. This is my dream job. I’d like to keep it.” She swallows nervously while toying with her skirt. “It is weird though. I could tell you meant something to him when he was trying to play it off. I’ve never been around any of his exes before. I’m not sure how we should behave.”
Even though my heart feels like there are stones in it, I manage to smile.
“We behave like mature women. You have him. I don’t. I don’t want him. Trust me, Whit, I really don’t want him back. He burned that bridge.”
Her lips tense, and she fingers a lock of her pretty blonde hair. “He said he ended it.”
“He lied,” I sigh. “He didn’t end it at all. He just shut me out and pretended I didn’t exist. I had to find out it was over on my own, and it was a very painful experience. I hope he’s outgrown that tactic of breaking up with a girl.”
I aim for joking, but it comes out bitter. Whit doesn’t bat an eye.
“That’s shitty. Sorry. He didn’t elaborate. It was like pulling teeth to get that much.” She shifts awkwardly before quietly adding, “He hates summer, and you were his summer girl.”
Yeah, I wish she hadn’t told me that.
“It was intense,” I say with a sad smile.
“Those were his words too,” she sighs. “I feel… I don’t know. I feel a little inferior to you. You took his virginity and now you’re here, and he’s pissed. He hates summers, and I’ve never known why until you…”
“Don’t feel that way.” I snort derisively. “You look like a model, Whit. You’re beyond beautiful. You’re also smart, sweet, incredibly strong… We had our moment in time back when I was young and stupid. At the end of the day, we burned out.”
“She’s burning out. She’s sleeping more and more. I don’t want her here. You’re not helping her. If anything you’re hurting her. You have to let her out.”
“Aidan, she can leave anytime she wants. She’s served her time here, but she’s refusing to leave. It’s not up to us.”
“You’re the assholes inside her head and making her believe she can’t survive outside these walls. That’s it! I’m getting a court order. I’m over this bullshit. You’re fucking with her head and letting her make the decisions when she’s not capable of it.”
Damn memories. They need to leave me alone. All this emotional stress is not good, and it’s awakening issues I’ve moved past. Strong emotions in general are not allowed.
“You still got to be his first. That’s important to a person. I know my first was important, and if he gave me a look, I’d be in his arms,” Whit goes on, not noticing my distraction.
Not sure how I like hearing that, since she’s supposed to be in love with Chase. Or I assume she’s in love with him…
“It was just a summer,” I assure her. “One summer. I got the boy; you got the man.” Well, one summer for sex. The rest of the summers were spent falling more and more in love. Definitely not telling her that. This is uncomfortable enough.
She forces a smile, and I decide there’s no way I can go back to writing about killing Thomas right now. Thomas is a character, by the way. I’m not actually killing anyone for real.
Fortunately, Aidan walks in, and my smile spreads as he makes his way toward me to relieve me from this incredibly awkward conversation.
“Hey, you done here? I’m fucking starving and we haven’t got a damn thing to eat at home… obviously. Feel like that Italian place by the water?”
Home… That word hasn’t felt right on my tongue in years.
Whit turns around, and her eyes almost bug out of her head when she takes in Aidan. Did she just lick her lips? Ew.
“Yeah. Italian sounds good. I’ll be right there. Just finishing up.”
He nods. “Fine. Don’t keep me waiting long. You know how I get.”
He smirks before walking off. That asshole. If he has to wait too long, he’ll go through everything in my car. That’s how he gets. Nosy bastard. I have all sorts of notes from my latest book in there. He’d have me put in a straitjacket. Again.
That was a shitty joke.
