satisfied with having Nolan near me. I’m glad he’s in my bed—glad I can step out and look at his face once again.
After I’m out of the shower, I hurry out the bathroom and go for some clothes. My phone buzzes, interrupting my scramble through my drawer and I go for it, assuming it’s Brittany.
Of course I’m wrong.
Tyler: I guess we have something to talk about tonight. Didn’t get my call from you.
I sigh, reading over his text again before calling Brittany. She answers in a chipper tone, the background extremely loud.
“Hi, Brittany. We should meet earlier,” I tell her.
“Oh yes, please,” she says loudly. “I’m at Jordan’s garage and he’s practicing with a few band members. They’re giving me a migraine! I’ll be there in twenty!”
“Okay. I’ll see you in twenty.”
I hang up, hurrying to put some clothes on. After I’m dressed, I look over my shoulder at Nolan who has turned on his side but is still snoring. Hopefully he’s still here when I get back. I don’t want him to leave. It’s time to talk and settle our differences.
****
I nibble at my bottom lip, waiting for Brittany to arrive.
It isn’t until ten minutes after our planned time when I finally spot her walking between the tables to get to me with a wide smile on her lips. I force one back as she removes her purse from her shoulder and places it in her lap.
“Hey girly,” she breathes. “Sorry I’m late. Got caught up with my mom and she wants to go out to eat in a bit so I’m now on a slight time crunch.”
“Hey—yeah, it’s fine.”
“So, what’d you get?” she asks, looking at my cup.
“Oh, an iced latte with extra caramel. It’s pretty good. Would you like one?”
“No thank you,” she says, shaking her head and folding her fingers on top of the table. Her green eyes scan the area quickly before meeting mine again, her chipper mood immediately evaporating. “Okay,” she sighs, her voice shaky. “I just want you to know Tyler Stokes used to be my ex-boyfriend,” she starts. “He’s the one who broke my heart . . . in more ways than one.”
“How? What did he do?” I ask nervously, slightly taken off guard.
“What didn’t he do?” she retorts sarcastically. “Tyler was sweet at first. I really liked him. I was told by one of my friends that he hadn’t dated a girl since tenth grade but then I saw him with another girl at the park. Everyone used to tell me how he enjoyed being single and if he ever asked a girl out, they were lucky because it was rare. I’m going to be honest here. That’s bullshit.”
I swallow as she stares right through me. “So, you guys dated and then he cheated on you? Then what?”
“Not only did he cheat on me, but he had a house party one night last year. The house party happened right before he started ignoring me. He asked me to join him and I did but that night I felt kind of strange. I was head over heels for Tyler but this party happened before I found out he’d cheated on me. I began to get woozy, lightheaded. I don’t remember much but I do remember Tyler taking me upstairs and after that, everything went blank. The next morning I woke up sore everywhere and even had a broken pinky.” She lifts her pinky up and I gasp, noticing that it’s slightly crooked.
“What?” I hiss, lowering my head. “You think Tyler did that to you?”
“I don’t know,” she sighs. “I called him the next day, he didn’t answer. I called that whole next week, still no answer. It wasn’t until two weeks after when he finally called me and said he went out of town for a family trip and that he didn’t have his phone with him. I used to fall for the dumb lies. I believed everything he told me. I was so gullible that I’m embarrassed by it.
“But then I met Jordan. Jordan treats me like a queen—way better than Tyler ever treated me. I began to drift from Tyler and he noticed. He showed up at my doorstep one day and begged for me to take him back. I kept asking him what happened to me at the party but he wouldn’t say much other than, “I don’t know. You probably partied too hard, Britt.” Something made me think he may have had something to do with what happened