Total pages in book: 186
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
“I take it Voss isn’t aware of this, then?”
I didn’t answer fast enough, and he laughed. “No shit he doesn’t.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I heard he sent you flowers during class, and was wondering if you two were at odds about something. That explains why he doesn’t know.”
How loud and wrong he was, proudly too. I wondered if it was widespread that he sent me flowers as some sort of an apology, or if this was solely Ashton’s theory. Ryder wouldn’t use floral arrangements to apologize.
“I’m not sure what you heard, but we’re not having any issues.”
“That’s good, I guess. For a minute, I was glad you didn’t tell him first, but I wasn’t the first person you told either.”
I double-checked that I had everything I needed, then zipped my duffel shut, staring down at my phone. The ever-present guilt threaded itself through everything lately—my relationships, my choices, my silence.
“Are we okay, Sanj? I feel like you’ve been a little off lately.”
I wasn’t sure how he picked up on it. It had only been a day or two since we last saw each other. Maybe he just sensed it, the unraveling, the quiet drift he didn’t want to acknowledge. I pressed my hand to my temple, dragging my fingers through my hair, trying to piece together the right words. The truth was simple and cruel. Ashton had always been good to me. Not perfect— no one ever was—but he tried. And even with Sarah aside, he never gave me a reason to doubt his intentions.
None of that changed anything.
I couldn’t keep reaching for something that was never really there. Delaying the inevitable would only end up hurting us both. Deep down, I’d always known he would make a better friend than anything else. But I couldn’t say any of that over the phone. He deserved more than that.
Worse still, he didn’t stop.
“Tell me what I can do so we’re in a good place again? I know the other night I was late getting back to you, and talking to Sarah was a stupid thing to do. I really am sorry. I’m trying, I swear. I just… I don’t know if that’s ever going to be enough for you.”
His voice dripped with enough sadness to make sure I was the villain here. The problem. The antihero ready to rip out a heart I’d never really held properly in my hands.
All because I had loved someone else long before him.
I closed my eyes. “I know you care, Ash.”
“I hope you mean that, Sanj.”
I walked to my vanity, opened the top drawer, and grabbed a scrunchie, pulling my hair up like the motion might help me keep everything else together too. “I do mean it, but honestly, I don’t know where we stand right now.”
“Then I’ll have to do a better job of showing you,” he finally said.
Inside my head, a voice wailed no. This was exactly why I should’ve ended our relationship the day it started. Now look at the mess I’d made. Though, to be fair, I’d never broken up with anyone before. My phone lit up with a text, and I glanced at the screen.
1031
The number I’d blocked.
My brows pinched as I caught half the preview box before it went away. I tapped into my inbox, reading the rest.
You leave your window unlocked at night.
That makes it easier to come visit you.
“What?” I whispered to myself, too quiet for Ashton to hear.
I didn’t leave my windows unlocked. Phone in hand, I turned toward the bathroom again, trying to make sure I wasn’t imagining things, half-listening to Ashton talking in the background. Something about me staying over tonight after we left the diner. I poked my head in and saw the trash bag was still in place over the broken window with no signs of tampering. I’d have to ask Cloe if she’d gotten in touch with whoever was supposed to replace the glass.
I stepped back into my room and cut Ashton off. “Hey, Roxxi needs help with something,” I lied. “I’ll see you in a few, okay?”
“Oh, yeah, of course.”
“Bye,” I chirped with all the pep I could muster, hanging up before the next wave of guilt could slam into me any harder.
I put my phone down on the bed and crossed the room to the only window I had. It was beside my bed and overlooked the side of the house. I was sure I’d locked it over a week ago when it started to drizzle. I could envision the day perfectly. I had been sitting on there doing a lit assignment, and crawled over my textbook to shut the window once the rain started.
I peeled my curtain back and pressed my fingers to the bottom edge of the pane where the lip was.
It slid up without resistance.
“No fucking way.”