Page 53 of About Last Night

Shae looks at Toni, Greta, and Willa and laughs. “Seriously, Audrey? Call off your attack dogs.”

“We aren’t attack dogs, we’re her friends,” Toni says. “We heard what she said but you apparently didn’t. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“We were talking just fine before you interrupted,” Shae says.

“Enough!” I say. I turn to my friends. “Can y’all please go inside? I’ll be right there.”

“I’m not leaving you out here with her. She might kidnap you,” Willa says.

“Always the drama queen,” Shae says.

“One more word out of you and I am going to fuck you up,” Willa says through clenched teeth.

“OK,” Greta says, turning around and literally pushing Willa backwards. “Let’s give them some space.”

Toni glances between me and Shae and says, “You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

Toni nods. I can tell that the last thing she wants to do is to leave me, but she backs away. None of them go inside, though. Greta has a firm enough grip on Willa that I don’t have to worry about her launching herself at Shae.

I’d managed to keep my distance from my ex, but now she steps close enough that I can smell her cologne. I hate the way my body responds to it, to her scent. Chemistry was never a problem with us. Until I realized that I somehow wasn’t enough for her.

“Audie,” she says in the voice I know so well. It’s low and intimate, the voice she used when she was either fucking me or trying to manipulate me.

But instead of making me go weak in the knees, it snaps me back to reality and I cross my arms over my chest. “Why now?”

“What?”

“Why today of all days did you suddenly remember that you have access to my car GPS?”

Shae motions for me to come with her. “Let’s go talk privately.”

I laugh. “Not on your life. I want everyone to hear your answer.”

“Audrey…”

Adrenaline courses through my body. I barrel on. “You’ve texted consistently, but they seemed perfunctory. As if you felt like you should try to get me back but didn’t really want to.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yeah, it kinda is,” Willa says. “She showed me the texts.”

I love my sister but Jesus Christ. I turn. “Willa, shut up.” I glare at Shae, arms crossed. “You texted me to try to keep me on the hook so if things didn’t work out with your latest girlfriend, you could come back to me.”

Shae chuckles and tries for innocence. “Audrey, I’m not that manipulative.”

I laugh. “Oh, yes you are. Did your girlfriend break up with you?” When Shae doesn’t react, I continue. “Or maybe not, but she left for Christmas.” Shae looks sheepish now. “And you don’t want to be alone.”

“We’re so good together.”

“I’ve told you over a dozen times in a dozen different ways that this is over and you just won’t listen to me. It’s exhausting. I’ve tried to be nice, because of all we had together, the good times, and I don’t want to hurt you. But I cannot take this anymore.” I inhale deeply and look her in the eyes. “I don’t love you anymore. It is over. I will never come back. There is nothing in the world that you could do or say that would make me take you back. Do you understand?”

“No, we can make this work.”

“Oh my God, that’s it,” Toni says and moves so quickly I can’t stop her.

She’s got Shae by the arm and Shae is not having it. She rips her arm from Toni’s grasp. I can tell where this is going, so I move between them.

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