AllFreeNovel
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Usually the sharp pieces of us don’t gouge each other. We’ve sanded the edges down and we’ve managed to fit inside each other like we were meant to be. Like we’re seamless.
But that night at my place, she stabbed me in the chest.
And I bore a hole through her soul.
I saw it.
How I hurt her.
Regret makes me hollow inside.
I miss my best friend.
More than life itself.
I can’t breathe without her.
But every time I pick up the phone, I think about what she did. And how she did it so easily. And then I’d put the phone back and try to drown myself in work or sweat.
Footsteps patter closer. A shadow appears over me.
Shaved head. Green eyes. Hulking tattoos.
Ollie clears his throat. “I’m afraid to come near you right now.”
I shove the bar back in the clasp. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He looks me over. “What happened with you and Kaelyn?”
“Did Chandra ask you to talk to me because Kaelyn took all the posts down?”
“My wife doesn’t need to tell me squat.” He points to the sweat on my face and the stains on my shirt. “Any man who works out like that is trying to forget a woman.” Ollie hands me a clean towel. “What’s the problem?”
I scrub my face. “Everything.”
“Name one thing.”
“My parents adopted me to boost their show ratings.”
His lips tighten into a frown. “Damn. That’s a bomb.”
“My whole life was that show. The camera was always on. Even when it was off. I never felt like I could be myself.”
“And Kaelyn?”
I balance my elbows on my thighs. “Kaelyn made me feel different.” I scowl into the distance. “And then she lied to me.”
“Something big?”
“Something small.” I tap my heels against the ground. Think about the way her brown eyes had fallen shut when I exposed her. It was like her entire soul shriveled into itself. Like she couldn’t hold herself up. “Something really small.”
“But it’s not,” Ollie says gravely.
“It’s a little thing…”
“But because you trusted her, it’s a big thing.”
I clasp my hands together. “We haven’t spoken in a while.”
