Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
When I arrived back at my apartment last night, I didn’t need to tell Sophia that it was serious. My puffy eyes and rumpled tissue did the talking for me. I told her about my dad and she didn’t say I told you so or what did you expect. She just gave me a hug and a glass of wine and let me cry through back-to-back episodes of Bridgerton.
It wasn’t until episode three that I managed to tell her I was moving back in permanently this weekend. I didn’t need a conversation with Leo before I moved out. What would be the point? What could we possibly say to each other? We’re over. I thought I liked him, and maybe I did, but what’s the point of dating? At some point it will end. Better to stop before we really start, before he can rip my heart out.
“You still haven’t told me what exactly happened with you and Leo. It seems… quick to be calling off an engagement and moving out.”
I swallow past an unexpected lump in my throat. “It was just a whirlwind. It came to its natural end.” She doesn’t have to know there was no real beginning.
I turn into my bedroom. Everything is exactly where I left it when I walked out two minutes after my dad hung up on me.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I shake my head as I pull out one of my suitcases from the closet. The sooner I’m packed up, the better.
“Did it get violent?” she asks quietly.
I gasp and spin around. “God, no. Why would you think that?”
She shrugs. “It’s all so sudden. Why aren’t you trying to work through it?”
I toss a box from under my dressing table onto my bed and start filling it with the contents of my nightstand. “Because the obstacles are insurmountable.”
“Okay,” she says, stooping to pick up my hairbrush and drop it into the box. “What kind of obstacles?”
“Big ones,” I say vaguely. “I’m going to pack up the bathroom.”
I find my toiletry bag and clear the shower shelf of my shampoos and conditioners. Jeez, this shower had good pressure. I’ll miss it.
“Big ones?” Sophia appears in the doorway, her hand on her waist like she’s not picking up what I’m putting down.
“Like he’s afraid of commitment.”
She bursts out laughing. “You two were engaged out of nowhere!”
“Doesn’t mean he’s not afraid of trusting people, letting people in. That’s what I mean by commitment,” I say.
“Is this mixed up with your dad?”
“No,” I snap. “Why would it be?”
“It’s just weird that your dad comes back into your life and suddenly you’re not engaged, you’re moving out of your fiancé’s apartment. It seems like the two things are connected.”
“Well, they’re not,” I reply. Okay, maybe they’re connected a little bit—but not how Sophia thinks. Dad leaving again simply made me realize what my priorities were, and who I can and can’t rely on. Did I think there was a chance we could finally have some kind of healthy relationship? Sure. Was I wrong about that? I was. But sometimes, being wrong about one thing just helps you see everything else with more clarity.
“So, you’re just walking away?” she asks. “You liked him enough to agree to marry him, but the relationship isn’t worth trying to save?”
I put what’s left of my toiletries into a box and head back into the bedroom, all the while thinking of a way to respond to Sophia that isn’t a lie, but isn’t the truth either.
I collapse on the bed, tears pricking my eyes. I won’t let them fall. This situation has gotten so complicated. I’m lying to my best friend and I might be in love with a man I hated a few weeks ago.
Sophia sits down beside me. “Tell me what’s going on,” she says, picking up my hand.
I lay my head on her shoulder. I know Leo doesn’t want me to tell anyone, but I trust Sophia like he trusts his best friends. She’d help me bury a body. She’d certainly tell a few lies for me.
“I’m not sure you’ll believe me if I tell you,” I say.
“Try me.”
I sigh and then tell her the entire story of our fake engagement and the reasons Leo wanted a temporary fiancée. “The awards ceremony was Thursday night,” I conclude. “So our time is up.”
“Hold on,” she says. “I thought you two hooked up.”
“We did,” I say.
“So that changes things. It’s not fake. You’re moving out, but are you going to continue to see each other?” she asks.
I shake my head. “We were supposed to talk last night and then—”
“And then your dad did a runner just like he used to when you were a kid.”
“I couldn’t face Leo after that. I didn’t want to talk about anything last night.”
“Did he call? Did you tell him what happened with your dad?”