AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ChapterTwenty-Five
Skye
Chloe stayed at my apartment.I wanted to be alone, but at the same time, there was a little devil inside of me that was mad at her. Even after everything I said about Gideon, she stayed there to talk to him when he came back. I’ve gone to the mall. Walked through every store I normally love to drop money in. I spent an hour in the bookstore, but I didn’t buy anything. Who wants to read romance when the one guy you click with is transient and has no intention of feeling anything for you?
It's afternoon when I go back to my apartment. I know when I step inside that he’s gone. It’s not even the way Chloe looks at me. I just feel the difference. She sits up from where she’s sprawled on the loveseat, tosses her book toward the table and misses, and climbs to her feet.
I wonder what was said between the two of them while I was gone. If she defended me the way she did him earlier. If it matters much to her that he broke my heart.
“Hey.”
I walk by her without answering and step into the spare bedroom. It’s bare—cold and clean, the way it was before Gideon moved in. His guitar and keyboard are gone. The comforter is pulled back and the sheets stripped off the bed.
For a second, I stare at the bed, thinking about the first time we were together. I thought then that messing around with him for a while would be harmless fun. I wonder when I fell for him. There was no sudden, tipping over the edge moment. He pulled me in little by little every day. And all the while, he stood at the edge of the abyss. Just out of my reach.
So, maybe what Gideon likes about the Natashas and Alainas in his life—because apparently, they’re more attractive than Janes—is that when he moves on, they let go. They’re sophisticated and tough, and they don’t need him.
I take a deep breath and steel myself to be more like Natasha and Alaina. To chalk up the things we did as harmless fun. What had he said earlier? No harm, no foul.
“So.” I turn and nearly trip over Chloe in the doorway.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” My eyes are glassy, but I’m smiling my face off. Of course, I’m okay. I’m sophisticated and hey, he did say I’m great in bed. I’ll carry that into my next fling whenever that happens. Maybe when hell freezes over. “Let’s go get a facial or a massage or something.”
Chloe follows me back to the kitchen.
“We could do that. Oh! Maybe mani-pedis?” I suggest. “And then we can go out and get dinner? Drinks?”
“Skye—”
“Or, if you want, we could bring something back with us. Pizza.”
“Skylar—”
“We could do Thai—” I break on the word. Gideon and I ate Thai takeout the first night he was here. It feels like forever since then.
“Oh, sweetie,” she says, and I hear my best friend, not Gideon’s sister. “C’mere.” She gathers me in her arms and guides my head to her shoulder.
“I can’t believe he just left like that.”
“I know.” She smooths her hand over my back. “I can’t believe the little brother I thought was fragile is such an asshole.”
I laugh softly, but that makes me cry harder. Maybe sometimes he is. This was an asshole move for sure. But he’s so much more, and I’m shocked that he walked away from me without even saying goodbye. At the very least, I thought we would be friends when we called it quits.
If I see him around now, he’ll be someone I used to know. And we might say hi, but we’ll never sit and talk about books or music. No more Janes. No more sharing what he sees when he plays music. No more sweet smiles and kisses.
“Do you really want to do a facial? A massage?” She draws back to look at me. “Whatever you want, I’m here for it.”
I step back and wipe my eyes.
“No.”
“More ice cream?”
“No.”
“Pizza?”
“Yes.”
Within the hour, we’re both in our pjs in the middle of the day, flopped on opposite ends of the couch, pizza box open on the plain Jane glass coffee table in the living room, and Netflix on TV. It feels good to know Chloe is here with me. That we’re okay, and Gideon and I didn’t mess up the best friendship I’ve ever had.
But it’s not enough.
And even after stuffing my face with three slices of thick crust pizza, I’m still empty inside.
