Without you.”
“I didn’t come after you because I didn’t want to,” I said. “I didn’t want to be with you.”
“Good to know,” she said. “I’m in bed, in the morning, sipping coffee, looking like dream sex, and you just feel nothing.”
“That’s right. And everything I said on the phone was true. And it’s true now. You’re not a good person, Miranda. I tried hard to look beyond the rough edges and flaws.”
“No, you don’t get to do that,” she said. “You’re not going to rip me apart.”
“Why not? You want to talk about the past. Let’s talk about it.”
She laughed. “There he is. There’s Liam. Passive. Blaming everyone else.”
“I’m trying to talk to you right now,” I said. “I want you to know everything.”
Miranda threw the covers off her body. “I don’t care anymore, Liam. I’m actually going to take this coffee and enjoy a hot shower. Alone. Please leave. Go to Jackson’s place. I’m sure you two have been having a great time at my expense.”
“We haven’t,” I said. “I’m trying to tell you-”
“What? Is there someone else? So soon? Please, Liam. Just leave me alone. I came back from Boston to see what was here. I see it clearly. Now I need to clean up and go back. I’m just curious… are you going to keep planning a wedding that will never happen?”
Miranda offered her vicious, bitch smile.
My blood ran cold.
She strutted to the bathroom and slammed the door.
I grabbed a bag and packed up some clothes and called Cole to ask if I could crash at his place for a few days.
He told me it was no problem.
I left the apartment.
With one bag.
I looked at the text I sent to Emily again.
If she decided not to text me back… and this whole thing was for nothing…
I really had no plan at all for what was going to come next.
Chapter Forty
Emily
I jammed a spoon into a pint of ice cream and put it on the table.
Even ice cream didn’t taste good.
Back at my place. Sorry about tonight. I love you, Em. Nothing is going to change that. I promise.
I kept thinking about Liam’s text.
And I kept reading it.
I had no idea what to do.
How to reply. What to say.
I felt as though my feet were on the edge of a steep cliff.
One more step…
I wasn’t sure what that step was.
Calling Liam? Not calling Liam?
Calling Miranda?
I had forgotten about her.
She had been in Boston, while Liam and I had been the way we once were and life felt good.
I knew he needed to take her home.
Home.
They had a home together. An apartment. A place they shared.
I should have known this was going to happen.
Worse yet, I felt alone.
I wasn’t going to call Elise.
Hell no.
She would just rip into me.
I could hear her voice already.
I told you! I was right…
My phone buzzed with a text message from Carla.
I ignored it.
Just like the last few.
Faye too.
There was only one person I wanted to talk to and it was up to me to text him back.
Until then, I crashed down to the couch and pulled the covers over my head.
I wanted to go to sleep but I was wide awake.
So I just stayed there.
And did nothing.
The ice cream melted.
My stomach hurt.
Not as bad as my heart.
I told myself I wasn’t going to ever move off the couch again.
But I had no choice when I heard banging on my apartment door.
When I opened the door, Carla jumped at me to hug me.
It was a quick hug because when she stopped, she pushed me.
“What’s your deal?” she yelled.
She and Faye came into the apartment.
“Yeah, come on in,” I said.
“Are you sick?” Faye asked.
“No,” I said.
“Then what the fuck?” Carla asked. “You were supposed to meet us.”
“I know.”
“So you didn’t forget?” Faye asked.
I shook my head.
“You just didn’t show?” Carla asked.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, Carla, look at this,” Faye said. “Ice cream everywhere…”
That pint of ice cream I had been eating was the last of many.
All of which were on the table in the living room.
“That’s breakup food,” Carla said. She grabbed my arms. “What happened with Liam? Did he hurt you? I swear, I’ll find him and cut his dick off.”
“She’s not kidding,” Faye said.
“It’s not that simple. This is my fault.”
“Your fault? How?”
I backed away from Carla and shook my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“The hell it doesn’t,” Faye said. “We’re not leaving here until we know what’s going on. We’re your friends, Emily.”
“I appreciate that,” I said. “Look, the music thing was fun. I liked it.