have to go. If I don’t get out there now, the park will be too crowded.”
It’s not altogether a lie. I like running when there aren’t as many people around, but there’s only one person I don’t want to bump into. I know his running schedule like the back of my hand.
I zip up my jacket and put on my hat and gloves.
“You could be running on the beach in a few days instead of freezing your ass off here,” Jenn says. “Think about that.”
“Bye,” I say, leaning over to give them each a quick hug.
Stepping outside, I inhale the crisp air. “It’s probably too humid down there,” I tell myself. “And running in the sand may be difficult.”
“Excuse me?” a lady says, thinking I’m talking to her.
“Oh, sorry. I was …” I twirl my finger in the air by my ear and then take off across the street.
I put my earbuds in and listen to music. Halfway through my run, a Reckless Alibi song comes on. It makes me think of Liam and how he played his guitar for me right here in the park. He seems normal enough. Then again, he went to great lengths to tell me how not normal he is. It makes me wonder about him. Why does he think someone like me wouldn’t want to be with someone like him? As my friends would testify, any girl in her right mind would want to be with him. Any girl but me.
Is that what it is? The chase? Wanting what he can’t have?
Someone takes hold of my elbow. I jerk away, on high alert. I turn to see my ex running alongside me. I stop and pull out the earbuds. “It’s only eleven. You never run until lunchtime.”
He shrugs. “I’ve changed my hours.”
I consider him suspiciously. “Have you been waiting for me?”
“Every day,” he says. “I’ve been coming at different times, hoping to run into you.”
“So you’re stalking me now.” I shake my head and walk away.
He comes up next to me. “Jogging in the park is not stalking, Ella. I wanted to see you again—make sure you were okay after your fall.”
I raise my cap and show him the faded bruise. “I’m fine. I’m running, aren’t I? There, now you know. You can go now.”
I turn on my music and run. A second later, one of the earbuds is yanked out. “All I’m asking for is a chance.”
“You had your chance, Corey. For eighteen months. And you blew it. It’s not like what you did was some kind of forgivable offense, like forgetting my birthday. Your dick didn’t accidently slip into that girl. You wanted someone else, and you had her.”
“I made a mistake. You’ve made them too.”
I look him straight in the eye. “I’ve never cheated.”
“I love you, Ella.”
My heart flutters when he says it. His eyes are full of guilt. I remember the first time he said those words. We’d only been together three weeks. He took me to Coney Island. We ate hot dogs and then went on a roller coaster. I got sick right after, losing my lunch into a trash can. I’d never been so mortified. That’s the moment he chose to say he loved me.
We laughed about that moment for the next seventeen months. I was sure I’d end up being Mrs. Corey Gorman. Even with all the boring stuff he made us do together, I thought he was the one.
Tears come to my eyes. I turn away and wipe them, but not soon enough for him not to notice.
“You still love me, and not just because it takes time for those feelings to go away. You love me because we’re meant to be together. You love me because I make you laugh. You love me because I always remind you to take your keys so you never get locked out of your apartment, like you did the first day we ran together. You love me because I’m nice to homeless people.”
I’m trying not to listen, but him saying these things are merely a reminder of everything I’m trying to forget. My heart can’t take it. Everything he’s saying is true. I swallow hard.
He steps closer. “You love me because we’re soul mates, Ella.”
He wraps me in his arms. My walls begin to crumble. He feels so familiar, like coming home after a long journey. I sink into him.
A Reckless Alibi song starts playing in my right ear, and I hear Liam’s voice in my head. “Just because