Gretchen
The nighttime Chicago skyline beyond the window sparkles with city lights reflecting off the tall buildings. Traffic weaves through the streets below sending streaks of neon red and gold painting the pavement.
The ballroom doors open and close around the corner. Stilettos clack on the marble floor, the sound drawing closer. I don’t have to turn to know it’s her.
“Can I help you with something, Alexis?” I ask.
Opposite me, shoulder propped against the oversized window frame, she says, “Just wanted to see if you were still out here pouting.”
I shake my head and push off the wall to leave. “Have a good night.”
“Go ahead. Walk away again, scared and wounded like the world is so unfair to you.”
I stop, sucking in a breath as I turn. “Excuse me?”
“You haven’t changed at all, have you, Gretch?” She cocks her head, words spewing like venom. “You see all these things you want, but you’re too scared to reach out and take them. You just sit back and cry and blame others for the things you don’t have.”
“That’s what you’ve told yourself?” The space between us narrows as I move closer. “You think I regret not having sex with a bunch of juvenile boys in high school? My only regret is believing you when you said I was your best friend.”
Her eyes roll to the heavens. “It’s just sex, I don’t know whyyou’re so uptight about it. And that was high school. Aren’t we beyond that by now?”
“It waslastyear!” I take in my surroundings and step forward. Toe to toe, I lower my voice. “You wanna have sex with every guy that looks your way, I couldn’t care less. I actually envied your confidence, Alexis. I never judged you. Butyoujudgedme.You pitted us against each other and,shocker,the girl who spread her legs first won.” I throw out my arms.
“And here we are again.” My lips twist as I fight back the burn in my throat, the ache in my chest. The mental image of her arms around Connor’s neck plays on a continuous loop, insult piled onto injury over and over and over. “I’m beginning to wonder if you’ve ever pursued a guy that I wasn’t interested in first.”
She flips her hair over her shoulder and laughs, arms crossed in contempt. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, you know. If Connor wanted you as his date, he would have asked you.”
There it is—the God’s honest, ugly truth my heart can’t bear. And damn the universe for lettingthis girlbe the one who spells it out for me. He doesn’t want me. He chose her.
I know exactly the kind of person Alexis is—mean, vindictive, conniving and selfish. But if hurt people hurt people, then I can also acknowledge that her punches hold very little weight. She may be out for blood, but her only weapons are dull blades, painful on impact but only capable of breaking skin if I push back hard enough.
“And insecurity doesn’t suit you.” I pause. Her face falls a fraction before she captures it and yanks it back into neutrality. “That’s right, I see through the facade. You’re not confident at all. No, this is insecurity masquerading as confidence.”
I’m not interested in revenge. More than anything, I want to put her behind me. Up until about four hours ago, I thought I’d done that.
“I feel sorry for you, Alexis. I’m sorry for whatever happened to you that made you such a terrible friend to others.”
She opens her mouth to reply, but the pointed finger I pin in her chest stops her short. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear. Youknow how much Connor means to me.”God, does she know.“But he’s made his choice. You win.” Tears sting the back of my eyes.Do. Not. Cry.“I forgive you for everything. All of it. But if you hurt him?ThatI will never forgive.”
Gazes locked, there’s a taut silence until, “Everything okay out here?” Connor comes into view, his question a battle-axe that cleaves the air.
Alexis and I turn to face him. He steps closer, eyes on a pendulum swinging between the girl he chose and the girl who wanted so badly for it to be her.
I step back, face flat, heart a vast, empty abyss. “Everything’s fine.”
Connor looks at me and then he turns toher. “I think we should go.”
The man I’m in love with leads another woman to the elevator with a hand on the small of her back. I suck in a ragged breath that teeters on the edge of a sob as I spin on my heel and run.
The door on the far wall opens to a wraparound balcony. Once outside, my lungs heave in an ocean’s worth of oxygen. Without the incessant pulse of the music pounding from the other side of the stone wall, I’m not sure my heart would remember to beat on its own.
Connor
I press the button for the lobby as Alexis asks, “What floor is your room on?”
“I don’t have a room,” I answer.
She steps into me, pressing me to the back of the elevator. “Good. We’ll go back to your place then.”
