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I can’t bring myself to go to her house, so I do the next best thing. And I also can’t bring myself to talk to her directly, so again, I do the next best thing. Security lets me know where I can find her, so when I locate her, Trudy does a double take, as she stands in line, ordering her latte. “What…the fuck.” She says, giving me a dirty look.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” I ask under my breath, so she has to strain to hear me.

“Sure?” She says, as if I’m a fucking devil worshipper or something.

I roll my eyes and purse my lips as I lead her to a table in the back. She sits down, still with that reluctant look on her face, like I secretly raped and pillaged her best friend. “Look, this won’t take a minute, Trudy. I promise.”

“Good, because that’s all that I’m going to give you, you son of a bitch. Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to come see me, so I could tear a fucking strip out of you, asshole?”

“Why the fuck do you hate me so much?” I ask, nodding, scrunching my eyebrows.

“Are you fucked in the head? You walked out on my best friend, not even giving her a chance to explain, and then your brother calls, like a year later, asking her to help you put her job on the line to help you solve some fucked up kidnapping case. And then you show up at her doorstep, looking to give her more fucking grief, and she, like an idiot, is nice to you. Then your fucked up family invites her to your brother’s wedding? Why, I’m still trying to figure out, but it must be to suck her into your weird Harris dimension or something.”

I sigh, clasping my hand together on the table. “I know it looks bad, but how would you feel, man? I mean, she lied to me.”

“Then why ask her for a favor? And why invite her to your brother’s wedding?”

I grunt on exhale. “To be truthful, it’s all my da’s doing. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t invite her to the wedding, and I certainly wouldn’t have called her up on a favor, either. But I was pissed that she wouldn’t help, despite the stupid high school shit that happened between us, and that’s why I went to her house to tear a strip out of her.”

“High school shit that broke my best friend’s heart and wrecked her for all other men, Ethan. Do you know that Freya hasn’t dated a soul since you two broke up?”

I argue. “Well, neither have I, but that’s beside the point. Freya and I would never have been able to be together. At least, that’s what I thought, at the time.”

“Yeah, so you kept her a fucking secret, like she was a leper, all the time you two were together. She was never good enough for you, Ethan.”

“It wasn’t me, it was my da, Trudy. Honest.”

She grits her teeth. “She never met your father, asshole.”

I grasp my hair in my hands and growl. “Look, I know that, okay!” I look around, and notice that people are looking at me, so I lower my voice. “I didn’t think that my da would approve of her. That’s why I never introduced her. I never wanted her to feel rejected.”

“So, you strung her along, all that time, knowing full well that she wouldn’t cut the mustard. And the second she gave you cause you bolted. Classy. Real classy.”

My gaze goes to hers. I go for as much conviction as I have in my heart. “I loved her, Trudy. That’s the truth. If it wasn’t for her telling me about her and Caleb, I would have found a way.”

“Sure, you would have. You just said yourself that she didn’t live up to your expectations. What would you have done, huh? Make her lie? Seems like we have a certain trend here, Ethan.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. My family is too smart for liars. Anyone that encounters us is thoroughly investigated first. It’s standard. I would have never gotten away with that.”

Her voice is deadpan. “Well, I’m glad you never thought about it.”

“I never did, dammit!” I slam my fist on the table, and the same people that were staring at me a moment ago, I now have their attention again. I lift my hand up apologetically and gain back my control. “I’m telling you I loved her, Trudy. And that’s the truth. She knew it. And she loved me, too. When I found out about her and Caleb, make no mistake, it broke my fucking heart, too.”

She interrupts me. “Why, Ethan? It’s not like she cheated on you with him. They weren’t even together. It was lame ass, last minute, I need to fuck tonight sex, and nothing more. And from what Freya tells me, the sex sucked, anyway. She never even liked him. He was just a warm body for her, and that’s when he called her. She never called him, Ethan, let’s be clear here. It was all your brother’s doing.”

“She could have told him where to go.”

She asks, matter-of-factly. “Would you turn down free sex, Ethan? She’s a single, warm-blooded woman, and let’s be fair here, Caleb is no slouch in the mirror, pal. He wasn’t voted the most eligible bachelor because he’s got a face like a hound, buddy.” She chuckles mirthlessly. “Hell, I’d fuck him, too, given the chance.”

I lift a hand, having heard enough. “Okay. Fine, I get it. But she still could have told me.”

Her voice lowers an octave, as she levels with me. “Like I told her a dozen times. But she didn’t know where you and she were headed, and when she fell in love, she got scared. It wasn’t until you told her you loved her that she knew she better confess.” She looks up at me. “She’s still in love with you, Ethan. She never stopped.”

I stare at my hands. Feeling like a shit.

“And that’s why I talked her out of going to this wedding.”

My gaze meets hers. I’m shocked. “You? You talked her out of it? I figured it would be the opposite.”

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