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Emily’s forehead crinkles in confusion. “You broke her into pieces,” she says after a long pause. “Are you saying there’s more to it than that?”
We’re standing on the curb in front of the store, and I don’t care who hears me. “I’m saying I never intentionally broke up with, or hurt, Izzy. Just like she didn’t hurt me the way I thought she did.” My chest is pounding furiously against my ribcage, and all I can do is pray that she’ll listen to me. “And I can prove it.”
Emily stares into my eyes, obviously trying to determine how much of my story is utter bullshit. Whatever she sees, it makes her sigh. “Shit,” she breathes out. “Fine, give me a couple minutes to get Dad, then you can follow me to their place. I’d say we could go to Edna’s, but Izzy’s working, and if I walk in there with you, she’ll kill us both.”
Chapter Seven
Isabelle
Waking up to find Jace in my living room had been a rough start to the day. And it sure as hell didn’t get any better after that. I couldn’t focus. In the span of my eight-hour shift at Edna’s, I’d managed to spill a cup of coffee, get three orders wrong, and forget to bring condiments and utensils to a couple of tables. I wasn’t on my A-game, and my mind wasn’t on the tasks I needed to accomplish.
My mind was on Jace. Not just on the way his eyes spoke to me, enticing me and burning into my skin. Or the way his tongue ran across his bottom lip as he drank me in with his gaze. It wasn’t even the way each muscle and contour of his hard chest and shoulders stretched the fabric of his t-shirt.
No, it’s his words that have me faltering.
Not a damn thing has changed. Not where you and I are concerned. You’re not over me. Just like I’ve never been over you.
Damn it, one more week and I’d have been gone. I would’ve never had to face the likes of Jace Andrews again. Instead, he rides back into town and consumes me just by being close enough to breathe the same air. He doesn’t just create chaos for me, he is chaos. I want to hate him for it, the way I’ve told myself I did for the past three years.
But wanting to hate someone, and actually hating them are two different things. And seeing and feeling and thinking about Jace makes me feel a lot of things, but hate isn’t one of them.
Yeah, I hate that, too.
I can’t wait to get home and hide within the deepest depths of my house. I’ll lock the door, draw the curtains, and medicate my overwhelmed brain by tossing a frozen pizza in the oven and watching Netflix while I drink a beer. I should be packing, but to hell with it. The mental warfare going on inside me is winning, and just for tonight, I’m going to allow myself to drown it out with mindless entertainment and carbohydrates.
But when the clock strikes ten o’clock and I turn around to find Emily smirking devilishly at me from the other side of the counter, I groan out loud. “No,” I tell her immediately. “Whatever you have planned, I’m not going to be a part of it, Em. No, no way.”
She laughs, rolling her eyes. “Oh, please. You don’t have to be so dramatic. It’s not like we get into trouble every time I have an idea to liven this town up a bit for us.”
I shove a handful of napkins into the dispenser on the countertop, glaring at her. “People have been stealing glances and whispering in here all godforsaken evening about Tonk’s last night. And those that didn’t whispering, flat out fucking asked,” I admonish, even though it’s not her fault.
“Asked what?” Emily’s eyebrow arches.
“About Jace and I.”
“And what’d you tell ‘em?” She leans forward, grinning from ear to ear, whispering, “Did you tell them how you two desecrated the bathroom?”
“Shut up,” I hiss, looking around to make sure no one’s paying attention to us. “Jesus, what’s gotten into you? I mean it, I’m not going out with you tonight. I need a quiet night at home.”
“Alone?”
“Yes, alone!” I slam the dispenser in my hand down onto the counter with a bang, huffing a sigh. “I’m on the verge of a mental freaking breakdown, and you think this is funny.”
“I don’t, I swear.” Emily holds up her hands in mock surrender. “I don’t think the fact that you’re about to have a breakdown is funny at all. What I do find funny is that Jace has you all hot and bothered, and yet you won’t admit it to yourself, let alone me. You need to think about why he’s affecting you like that, Isabelle.”
Her use of my full first name brings me up short.
“I’m not getting into this here,” I say, my voice clipped.
“You haven’t gotten into it for three years,” she shoots back. “Trust me, you should have.”
I push the napkin dispenser out of the way, crossing my arms. “What the hell does that mean? And why do you sound so damn cryptic?” I’m agitated, and anyone other than Emily would’ve told me to cool my bitchiness by now. “If you have something to say, Em, just say it.”
Emily’s crooked little grin is back in place as she slides off the stool and swipes her keys off the counter. “The only thing I’ve got to say is that I know something you don’t, Izzy. And, as your best friend, I’m telling you that I’ll be in the parking lot, waiting. Get your ass out into the passenger side of my car as soon as you’re done cleaning up. You’re going to want to hear this.”
She turns away from me and slips out the door of the diner before I can say anything more, tugging on the chain to turn the Open sign off as she goes.
“This better be good,” I snap, fumbling to buckle the seatbelt. Emily’s already squealing the tires on the way out of the parking lot. Wherever she’s taking us, she’s in a big fucking hurry to get there. “Christ, slow down, Em. You drive like a lunatic on a good day, but this is erratic, even for you.”
