Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 43540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43540 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“Love seeing you here. Missed you, Cal. Promise you. I’m not leavin’ you again. Ever.”
My heart does a double flip. “Same,” I reply, my voice hoarse. I continue to dance, breaking our connection because it’s too intense. The song ends, and another one plays. This one I also know well.
“Damn, good song. Woulda sold a nut to see them live.” My shoulders tense at his comment. “Callie—”
“It’s fine.”
“I didn’t mean that. . . the tickets.”
I wish I could, but I can’t hide the pain in my eyes. The tickets I bought for Rage Against the Machine. The ones hidden in a box in his closet. “Callie, say something.”
“I have nothing to say.”
“Yes, you do. Say it.”
“I have nothing to say!” I raise my voice. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s in the past.”
“But, it isn’t. That look on your face says it’s very much lingering in the present.”
“Well, what do you want me to say? That all is well in the world, and anything in the past is in the past?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that’s not really how I work. I can’t erase the pain or what you did to me.”
“Here we go. It’s all about what I did to you, which was nothing. We can’t move on if you continue to want to bring up the past.”
“I continue to bring up the past?” I say, my tone dripping with venom. How dare he? “I’m sorry. Is my pain a problem for you?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t. Please explain.”
He throws the dish towel onto the counter. “It means we can’t fix the past. But we can move on from it. I am. I’m over being angry with you. I’m willing to bury the—”
“There’s nothing to bury for you! Jesus, how many times do we have to rehash this? You’re not the victim here. Is your ego that big that you can’t—”
“Oh, enough of this innocent-act bullshit.”
My mouth parts in shock. “Excuse me? How is it bullshit? I’m not the one who ruined us—”
“And neither am I! If you’d let me explain, you’d know I was innocent. Bet you can’t say the same for yourself—”
“Listen here, you jerk.”
“Just admit it.”
“Admit what? That I was all wrong about you?”
“That you’re not innocent either!”
“You are seriously crazy.”
“Admit it! You fucked Russ behind my back.”
I take a sharp breath. “Are you serious right now?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I know all about you two.”
“And what do you think you know? That he was your best friend and the only one who cared enough to tell me the truth?”
“If that was the case, he would have told you I didn’t do shit.”
“He told me you’d been cheating on me with that girl for months. Months!”
“And you expect me to believe that? You obviously knew Russ had a thing for you. Was that your plan all along? To play us both? Convince him that I was a—”
“A cheater? No, he didn’t have to convince me because I saw it with my own eyes. He just did me a favor by showing me more proof that our entire relationship was a lie.”
“Bullshit.”
“I saw pictures! He showed me.”
“This story just keeps getting better and better. So, what, he convinces you that I’ve been cheating on you with some bogus pictures, and to get back at me, you fuck him?”
“Nice try. You’re not turning this around on me.”
“Why, ’cause you don’t wanna admit it? The bigger question is, how long were you two fucking around behind my back?”
“You are absolutely insane.”
“Answer the question, Cal.”
“I’ve never touched Russ. He was my friend.”
“Don’t tire yourself out with this sweet girl act, babe. I’m not believing it.”
“I don’t give a shit what you believe.”
He slams his palms against the counter, causing me to jerk. “I fucking saw you. I saw you two together. You were wrapped in his arms, lip-locked. My ass you were just friends.”
He’s lying. Creating lies to confuse me. I never kissed. . . My brain dredges up a memory from a night a long time ago. The last time I saw Russ. “No, it wasn’t what it looked—”
“Finally, the truth.”
“It is the truth. It was only one time. Russ was consoling me about what happened between us. He’d just shown me the photos, and I was a complete wreck. He told me everything would be okay, spewing some weird shit, and before I knew it, he was kissing me.”
“Oh, putting the blame on him now?”
“Yes, because I didn’t kiss him back! Clearly, you didn’t stick around because I pulled away almost immediately. I told him I didn’t have those kinds of feelings for him. I never would, and it was never like that with me and him. We argued because I thought he was my friend. He got mad and stormed off. I’ve barely heard or seen from him since that day.”