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His eyebrows went up. “I see.”
“I better head up there and break it to her.”
“Of course.” He set his plate on a side table. When he put his arm around my back, I relaxed into him. “Call me,” he said.
His gorgeous face was very close to mine. “I’m trying to sort myself out. It’s messy.”
His hand smoothed up and down my back. “I’ll be thinking about you.” Then he brushed his lips over mine.
Everything tightened between my legs, and I clenched my thighs together as happy zings shot around under my skin. He stepped away.
“See you,” I said, a little dreamily. “I’m glad you came today.”
“Bye, Sally.” He picked up his plate and walked away.
I took my still mostly full plate with me upstairs. The excited smirk fell off my face. A couple of Layla’s friends were standing in the empty dining room, giggling together. I walked past them to my bedroom.
Amber sat on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. I went over and put an arm around her shoulders.
“Did he leave?” She raised her tear-streaked face.
“Yes.” I closed my eyes and put my head down for a moment. “I’m going to tell you what happened. It’s awful and I’m really sorry.”
She sniffed and I opened my eyes. She was trying to wipe off her eye makeup with her fingers. I darted into the bathroom and grabbed tissues and washcloths. When I brought everything to her, she started crying harder. “Oh my God,” she said. “I don’t know why I’m crying like this. I mean, I saw the breakup coming.”
“That damn asshole,” I said, rubbing her back. “Listen, I’ve got a few screws missing in my emotion toolbox, so I hope this doesn’t sound too cold and heartless. You’re free of that rat bastard. It’s gonna suck for a while and thenyou’ll move on. Screwy liars like that aren’t worth hanging on to.”
She huffed, shaking her head at me. “Screws missing? No, you’re right—about Zach, anyway.” Another attack of tears came along, and we sat together for a couple of minutes while she let it go. “All right,” she choked out. “Tell me what he did.”
“Yeah,” I said, glancing away from her glistening eyes to stare at my window. “I guess you better hear it. I caught him with another med student in my laundry room. They snuck away from the party and went to pound town in there. I kicked him out and watched his sorry ass walk down the driveway.”
Neglecting to mention that Zach was with my housemate, Kate, was a deliberate choice. If she’d asked me directly, I think I would have told her. Luckily, she didn’t.
“I’m really sorry, hon,” I said.
“Damnit,” she said covering her face with a hand. “That’s so…slimy. I mean, what was he doing with me?”
I shook my head. “Stringing you along.”
“Asshole. Why can’t I find a nice man? This is always happening to me.”
“You will,” I said, patting her back. I thought of Hank, my good man I’d thrown away, and my chest tightened.
“I hate dating,” she said, wiping her face again. She blew her nose. “It took six months of horrible dating apps before I finally met him.”
“Yeah, it’s good to be patient.” Except that was never me. Maybe it would be this time…
We sat together for a while.
I ran out to the kitchen and got her a glass of water. When I went back in the bedroom, she was standing up with her purse over her shoulder.
“I’m going to head back to my apartment.”
“You sure you want to be alone over there?”
“Yeah. I need to do my process—get rid of anything of his, or that reminds me of him, wash my sheets, vacuum…Call my parents, maybe. One or two days to wallow then I’ll be done. That’s the plan.”
I nodded and gave her another hug then followed her to the front door. She walked out with her chin held high. It was a good sign.
