about to cry?
“That’s precisely the conclusion I’ve come to.” She tightened her arms around her stack of papers and her spine straightened. “Friends with benefits isn’t a viable option. And right now I’m questioning whether we can be friends at all.”
Her words pierced through me, sharp and painful. She didn’t want to be friends. She didn’t want me in her life. For a second, the hurt cut through my anger. “What? Why?”
“Because I can’t do that to myself, Corban. Being friends means staying on the periphery and putting myself in the position of having to watch you be happy with someone else. Even if that isn’t now, it’ll happen someday.”
Someone else? What was she talking about?
“And I just can’t,” she continued. “I’m sorry, Corban, but I can’t do this.”
She walked out, leaving me standing in the observation room. The sudden silence was somehow deafening. It felt like the ground would open up and swallow me whole.
I kind of wished it would.
Molly answered her door, holding a sleeping Kate in her arms. “Hey.”
“Hey. I know you have a newborn and the last thing you need is your idiot brother coming over, and I probably should have called first, but can I come in anyway?”
“Of course you can.”
“Mom and Dad aren’t here, are they?” I glanced over my shoulder, wondering if I’d missed their car again.
“No. Mom was here earlier, but she went home a while ago.”
I shuffled inside and went straight for her couch. “Where’s Martin?”
“He got called into work. Some kind of emergency.”
“Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
She gently lowered Kate into a bassinet next to her chair, then sat down. “We’re fine. He’ll only be gone a couple of hours. And I feel pretty good. He took her for a walk earlier so I could take a nap. But what’s wrong with you? You look awful.”
I didn’t even argue with her, just ran my fingers through my hair. She was probably right.
“The last few days have sucked balls.” I wasn’t sure if I was ready to talk about Hazel. What could I say? That the girl I hadn’t really been dating had basically broken up with me? Or had I broken up with her? Was this really a break-up? My thoughts were too scattered. “Paisley kind of tried to get me to sleep with her on Saturday.”
“She did what?”
“I got out of the shower and she was on my couch. In nothing but one of my shirts and her underwear.”
Molly’s mouth hung open and her eyes widened.
“That’s basically the face I made.” I gestured toward her. “She told me she’d been trying to drop hints so I’d ask her out, but I hadn’t picked up on it. And that she wanted me, and we should… you know. God, in high school I would have sold a kidney to hear her say that.”
“Oh my god. Please tell me you turned her down.”
“Why? I mean, yeah, I did. But she’s your best friend.”
“I know. And I love her because I’ve known her forever, but she’s a mess when it comes to men. She picks the worst guys and then can’t figure out why it never works.”
“The worst guys? Thanks.”
She laughed. “I don’t mean you. Oh my god, this makes so much sense. Not long after you moved in next to her, she started talking about how she needed to stop dating all these assholes just because they’re hot and drive nice cars. Then she said she’d met this guy and he was so different and maybe she should give him a chance even though he wasn’t her type. I was totally encouraging her and I had no idea she was talking about you.”
“Why wouldn’t she tell you it was me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she thought she’d surprise me or something. You really told her no?”
“Yeah. I got over my crush on her a long time ago. I know she’s your friend, but I don’t know what I ever saw in her.”
“This is going to sound awful, but I wouldn’t wish her on you. I love her dearly—kind of like a sister you have to love even with all their faults—but she’d be terrible for you.”
“Yeah. I know.”
Molly tucked her legs beneath her. “So it must have pissed her off when you said no. I don’t think she’s used to being turned down.”
I winced. “She wasn’t happy. I guess I’ll just add her to the list of women who hate me.”
“Who else hates you?”
“Hazel.”
As soon as I said her name, I