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But then… maybe the adventure really was what she wanted. Maybe all that photo proved was that my doubts were right. That she was happier there than she would have been with me.
Dropping the phone beside me on the bed, I groaned, covering my eyes.
How the hell did I mess this up so badly?
Chapter 14
Charley
Eleven Months Ago
Valentine's Day. You might think someone as romantic as me would be into it, but I never was. Even when I was in a relationship. There should be no need for a designated day to show someone how much you love them. You're supposed to do that every day.
With that in mind, my friends and I decided to have an anti-Valentine's Day. Instead of hearts and flowers and romantic dinners, we were going to spend the evening at our favourite pizza place in the city, where starry-eyed couples would be kept to a minimum – it just wasn't that kind of place.
Before we went out though, Evelyn and I both had some work to do.
I had homework to go through, and Evelyn, organised as ever, had to throw together a lesson plan for the following day. The two of us sat at the kitchen table with our laptops, a comfortable silence around us as we worked.
The dinging sound from my computer made me jump. I'd been totally lost in what I was doing, and when I checked to see what the alert was for, a shiver ran through me when I saw a message from Brayden.
Brayden: Charley? Are you busy? I really need to talk to you.
My instinct was to drop everything and answer him. Yes. I was still that pathetic. We hadn't spoken since before Christmas. Before New Year when I'd seen that photo. Sure, we'd liked each other's statuses and photos here and there, but we hadn't messaged.
"Ev?"
"Mmhmm?" She raised her head to look at me.
"Brayden just messaged me. He said he wants to talk."
Her eyes narrowed. "Oh, now he wants to talk? After months of silence? Tell him to go screw himself."
"I can't. We're still... friends. Or something."
"Friends? He's barely spoken to you since he's been with that girl. He doesn't know the first thing about your life right now. He doesn't know if you're single or dating. He doesn't know that you and I have started taking a dance class, or that you run with Luca every morning because you're going to do the marathon with him. He doesn't know anything because he hasn't asked, and now he wants to talk?"
She was absolutely right, but she was forgetting that I hadn't made any effort either. Not because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't handle it.
Evelyn rolled her eyes, but not in a mean way. She just knew me well enough to know what I was going to do. "Answer him, Charley."
Drawing in a deep breath, I pulled up the message.
Me: Hey Brayden. What's up?
When my phone rang, another shiver ran through me. I hadn't heard his voice in months. Would it still affect me the way it always did? I hoped not, because I needed to rid myself of those feelings, and I couldn't if I still got all tingly just from hearing him.
I scooped my phone up from the table. "Hi."
"Charley. Hi. How are you?"
Yup, Still the same reaction. My stomach fluttered, and I stood up and went to my room, settling myself on my bed before answering.
"I'm good. You?"
There was a long pause, and I eventually looked at my phone's screen, just in case we'd been cut off. Nope. Still there.
"Brayden?"
