Page 22 of Face-Off with my Childhood Best Friend

With an eye roll, I silently express my annoyance. “Mom, you know what he did. I’m not getting dragged back into that toxic situation again, and I’m not playing the games he thinks I’ll play.”

I glance at Oscar and whisper, “I’m sorry.”

Oscar puts a reassuring hand on my arm, his touch calming me a little. “We’ll go home and decide what to do. There are reporters in his building.”

Nodding slowly, I lean into him gratefully. “Thanks, Oscar. You’re right, I’m not responding to his mind games.” I turn my attention back to the phone. “Mom, I’ll let you go. Don’t talk to him if he calls you again.”

“He called your mother?” Oscar murmurs, taking my hand and we stride out of the arena and toward the car park reserved for the players of the team. “He really wants you back.” His voice drops.

“No. Of course he doesn’t,” I say as we reach his car. “And I’m surprised he went public. We did nothing in the public eye. He said the fans liked to think he was single.”

“And you believed that?” Oscar asks.

I laugh. “Can I tell you a secret?”

Oscar stares, waiting. He nods.

“Dominic asked me to have children with him. And yet, minutes before, I told him that we were over. I ended our relationship, and he tried to save it by giving me the one thing he knew I wanted.”

Oscar’s nostrils flare as he takes in my words. It’s as if my revelation has caught him off guard, and he’s struggling to process it.

“Why would he do that?” I ask. I never understood it. He wanted to keep me a secret for two years. And it took him to realize our relationship was over before he acted.

“Because he used your needs against you.”

I slide my tongue over my teeth and nod. “Like you did when we were nineteen.”

Oscar's eyes lock on mine. “That’s not fair. I never cheated on you. I just didn’t want you to leave me.”

I don’t reply.

Oscar’s jaw tightens, a flicker of guilt crossing his eyes before he masks it with a shrug. “I know I made mistakes back then. But I never manipulated you like Dominic did.” He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “And I’m sorry for everything. You deserved better. Maybe better than me, too.”

I nod, the weight of his words settling heavily in the air between us.

Silence settles in the car, broken only by the soft hum of the engine. I watch the city lights pass by, feeling a sense of relief wash over me.

“I know you didn’t cheat on me, Oscar,” I whisper. “But your words hurt me, too. It made me feel like I wasn’t worth being shown off to the world.”

Truthfully, the weight of his words wounded me deeply, and I never believed I was as good a model as the girls I walked the runway with.

Oscar’s jaw tightens, his expression pained. “I was young and stupid back then. I was trying so hard to keep you, but I see now that in the end, it hurt us both.”

I reach out and place a hand on his arm, giving him a small smile. “And you know I’m still a model. I’m still going to be traveling the world and most of the time living in Europe.”

He audibly swallows as all hope leaves his eyes. “You’re trying to let me down gently.”

A huff of a laugh releases from my lips. “Your career is here, in New York. Mine…”

“Could be here. New York could be your base. You could travel to Europe when you need to.”

“It won’t work…” I say lightly. “You did what Dominic did. You tried to hide me. Do you know how that makes me feel?”

“Sorry?” Oscar’s eyes flick to mine.

“You hid me. In the restaurant … You deleted the photos of us and threatened the photographer,” I say.

“I did that for you. I thought you wanted to keep your private life private. I didn’t want the media to twist our relationship into something it’s not,” Oscar explains, his voice tinged with regret.

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