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“Not according to Mrs. Sanders next door, who’s been texting me since we all got home at ten pm last night.”
“Mrs. Sanders stayed up all night to spy on Austin?” Sofi asked. Even she’d gone to sleep eventually.
“It’s Mrs. Sanders,” Leia shrugged.
That was true. The woman lived for gossip and this was some of the juiciest their street had seen in a while. Sofi declaring her feelings for her best friend, her best friend feeling sorry for her but then going on a date with another woman because . . . what had Austin called it? An experiment? Then he stayed outside all night while Sofi sobbed herself to sleep.
“Should we listen to what he has to say?” Leia asked, interrupting Sofi’s thoughts.
Sofi loved that Leia said ‘we.’ She wouldn’t leave Sofi on her own through any of this.
“He said it was an experiment,” Sofi said, her head still aching. Trying to think was helping nothing.
Leia stood and went to the fridge to grab Sofi’s water bottle. Coming back into the room, she set it on the coffee table. “You keep squinting, so I’m guessing that means you have a headache,” Leia explained.
Sofi wasn’t sure why she’d ever called Austin her best friend. Leia was worth a million Austins and . . . Sofi couldn’t complete that lie of a thought. Leia was amazing. But Austin had been Sofi’s everything.
“He did say that. Do you know what that means? Because I’m confused. And he also said he needed to speak to you after that. He has more of an explanation, and I don’t think he’s leaving. Mrs. Sanders brought him a plate of breakfast and I saw Phoenix drive up with a bag of stuff. Austin then brushed his teeth, spitting in the bushes over there.” Leia pointed to the bushes between Mrs. Sanders’ property and their own.
“He can’t stay forever,” Sofi said, crossing her arms under the blanket. She wanted to stand firm. Her brothers would want her to do the same. Granted, her brothers also thought their candy game was funny. And the three of them had been in serious relationships for a combined total of approximately one year. Maybe Sofi shouldn’t listen to their imagined advice.
But could she let Austin in? If he said the right words, she couldn’t imagine being strong enough to push him away like she should. Yes, she loved him. Yes, he’d loved her in his way. But if she just forgave him and they went back to being friends, wasn’t this whole cycle bound to repeat itself? She couldn’t turn off her feelings for him. The only way she saw to kill them was to expel Austin from her life. Her feelings hadn’t subsided in the slightest in the four weeks they hadn’t spoken, only growing stronger, but she surely just needed longer. These feelings had to die. They had to.
“He can’t,” Leia agreed as she stood once more and went into the kitchen, filling a bowl and bringing it to Sofi. “I know you can’t stomach the idea of real food, but you need something to fortify you for whatever today may bring.”
Sofi looked into the bowl full of watermelon and took it. Leia was right. Sofi needed something and this seemed the least offensive option.
She slowly chewed a piece. It was a little mushy since they were past prime watermelon season, but it was still juicy and her stomach didn’t rebel. She downed another piece and then another, her headache subsiding with each bite.
“Will you regret not listening to him?” Leia asked softly when Sofi finally set down her empty bowl.
Sofi nodded. “But I think I’ll regret listening to him as well.” She had no idea what she’d do after she heard what Austin had to say. But if she didn’t hear him out, she’d always wonder what he would have said and . . .
Leia pursed her lips.
Sofi mimicked her action as she considered her options. How was she here? Of all the futures she could have imagined for herself, this was nowhere near any of them.
Leia jumped as knocking sounded on the door.
Sofi put the blanket all the way over her head.
The knocking of wood changed to the sound of knocking on glass and Sofi realized Austin had moved to the window where she’d seen his truck. The window that faced the couch where she huddled in her blankets.
“I see you,” Austin called through the window. “Please, Sof, just let me explain.”
“Do you want me to close the curtains?” Leia offered. Sofi felt a surge of gratefulness. At least she knew Leia was always on her side, even if she did think that maybe Sofi should hear Austin out. But if Sofi was in the same room as Austin once more, looking at his face . . . she couldn’t do it.
But an idea suddenly dawned and even as she hesitated Sofi wondered if it wasn’t the best solution.
“Call me,” Sofi said from within her blanket cocoon.
“What?” Austin asked through the window.
“Call her,” Leia said loudly.
Sofi knew as a woman of thirty-two years she shouldn’t be hiding in the blankets from a situation, but even grown women needed their safe place. And with Austin gone she could think of no better alternative.
Almost instantly, Sofi’s phone began ringing from her bedroom. She felt the couch shift as Leia ran to grab it. When Leia returned it was no longer ringing, but she simply tucked it into Sofi’s blankets. Sofi saw that Leia had already received the call but had yet to say anything. Sofi glanced down at the time ticking away on the call with Austin’s name above it. How many times had she seen this same sight? One of her favorite in the world. But now . . .
