Page 72 of Make Me Dream of You

“Morning. Happy birthday.”

“Morning.”

It doesn’t matter that he’s in bed with you half naked, he’s not for you. He’s your sister’s ex. He’s your boss. He’s your friend. And most importantly—he doesn’t see you like that, anyway. Move. The. Fuck. On.

He smiles and gets out of bed, careful to keep the covers in place. “I’ll, uh, let you get dressed. See you downstairs.”

I try not to stare at the conspicuous bulge in his black boxer briefs as he leaves. It’s not like I had anything to do with it. It’s probably morning wood. Or maybe whoever he was talking to gave it to him.

I glance at my phone before I get up. I wasn’t expecting any messages since I’d told him I was going to be out of town this weekend, but there’s a notification from the app.

2Horned:

Hey, I need to talk

Seems ominous. Okay.

ANG3L:

Yeah, sure. What’s up?

2Horned:

So I know I was the one who originally brought up meeting, but I don’t think we should anymore

Oh.

ANG3L:

Oh?

2Horned:

Yeah, I’m sorry. I met someone a little while ago and I’ve been thinking I want to try and start something with her, see how it goes. And I don’t think it would be fair to her or a new relationship to meet each other

…considering what we’ve chatted about

ANG3L:

That makes sense. I’m really happy for you

And I am. Really. I could always tell he was deeply lonely, and this is good. Good for him. Good for us. I wanted to make a clean break with this app anyway. This works out.

But then why am I so sad?

Happy fucking birthday to me.

2Horned:

But I’m still here for you. You’ve been an big part of my life the last year and I’d like to stay friends

ANG3L:

Thank you. I really appreciate you being open and honest with me

2Horned:

I’ll always be honest with you

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