He exhales sharply. “That wasn’t a question.”
“Yes, it was.”
“Ughhh,” he groans.
“I don’t come home because I don’t want to deal with this shit,” he says, waving his arms around me.
“So, you’re telling me you don’t want to come home to me?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
A heavy weight settles into my chest. I blink back the tears, trying not to cry in front of him. But those words hit hard.
The worse kind of loneliness is when the person you love the most makes you feel alone.
I take a few steps away from him and take one last look at him before I turn around and walk away. If I were the same girl a couple of months ago, I would have wanted him to chase after me. Fight for me. Fight for us. But now all I want is to get far away from him as possible.
My tears flow harder as I replay those words over. I may not have caught him with someone else, but his words cut just as deep.
It’s one in the morning and here I am, walking up the steps to Rya and Ezra’s house. I don’t know where else to go.
The door swings open, and Ezra rubs sleep from his eyes as he stares at me. His eyes go wide once he realizes it’s me.
He reaches for my arm. “Violet.” He pulls me against his chest, which is warm with his woodsy scent. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
My chest shakes uncontrollably as my tears wet his shirt.
“Who is it?” Rya says in the background.
Ezra turns us both slightly around. “It’s Vi.”
I peek over Ezra’s arm. As soon as Rya senses something is off, she rushes toward us. She pushes my hair away from my face. She gasps the moment our eyes lock.
“Violet. What’s going on?”
I raise my head from his chest and wipe the tears from my face. “I don’t think Zay loves me anymore.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Rya says.
“Why do you say that?” Ez asks, still holding onto my arm as if I’ll crumble to a million pieces if he lets go.
I try and speak, but my voice comes out shaky. I drop my head and breathe, trying to calm myself.
“Here, let’s go to the living room.” Ezra pulls me toward him as I follow him and Rya.
I take a seat in the middle of the couch, Ezra and Rya on each side of me.
“So, what happened?” Rya asks as she turns herself toward me and crosses her legs.
I take a big breath and say, “He went out with his friends, and I went looking for him. I had a feeling he was going to be with someone else.”
Rya scoots closer to me, eyes wide, as if this is some gossip about some other girl we know. “Was he?”
I shake my head, pulling my legs up to my chest and wrapping my arms around myself.
Rya’s face falls at my shake. “Then who was he with?”
“His friends from work.”
