Page 24 of Pulled Away

I fold my arms across my chest. “I don’t want her here anymore.”

“No, you don’t get to do that.”

“Do what?”

“Make this about her. This is about you and me.”

I gape at him in disbelief. “Are you serious right now? This has everything to do with her. And you, for that matter.”

He regards me in frustration. “I don’t understand where this is coming from. I checked with you before she came and you were fine with it.”

“That was when I thought she was like your other friends. Like Bailey and Hannah. But she’s not. She’s different. The two of you together are different.”

“Because she’s like my sister. How many times must I say that?”

I shake my head. Because that’s not what this is.

“She doesn’t like me and she’s causing issues between us.”

“Are you sure about that, because she hasn’t had a bad word to say about you? From where I’m standing, you’re the one causing issues.”

I rear back as if he’s slapped me. I almost wish he did because a slap would have been less painful than his words. Ignoring my expression, he continues. Continues to devastate me. “What exactly is it you want me to do? Tell her she needs somewhere else to stay? She’s struggling and you’re expecting me to make things harder for her?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask, is she struggling?, but I bite it back. That’s going too far, and who am I to judge how somebody else handles their grief?

My body slumps, my anger draining and being replaced by helplessness and confusion. I don’t recognize this Ryan standing in front of me. The one who stubbornly refuses to even try to see my side. The Ryan that cares more about Hadley’s feelings than mine.

“I guess not,” I sigh, giving up. Walking to the bathroom, I close the door and lean back against it, closing my eyes, trying and failing to keep the tears at bay.

Chapter nine

Aspen

How is it that one can be in a place surrounded by people, yet still feel utterly alone? Unwanted.

Unseen.

Ignored.

I spare the bartender a curl of my lips when he puts my drink in front of me, immediately picking it up and taking a healthy swallow.

I really didn’t want to come tonight. When Ryan told me that Nicole and Benjamin—friends of his from college—were in town and wanted to meet up, it was on the tip of my tongue to suggest they go without me. Ryan has been trying, but things are still strained between us after our argument. To his credit, he’s been putting in more effort.

He’s been more affectionate—little touches here and there and messaging me during the day.

But that’s the problem. What used to feel natural now feels like effort, and the cynical part of me feels he’s only doing it to keep the peace. I mean, he made it clear that I’m the one with issues, not her.

Eventually, my desire to not make things worse won out, so I agreed, thinking it might not be that bad to meet more of his friends, to get a glimpse of him during his college days.

I should have known better.

What he didn’t tell me was that Hadley met Nicole and immediately hit it off. They shared a dorm room and quickly became best friends and because Nicole was dating Benjamin—her now husband—he and Benjamin became friends by default. They became close and dubbed themselves the Four Musketeers because they did everything together. And I mean, everything. I have been hearing about it all night.

I tried, I honestly tried, being a part of the conversation, but when the whole of it revolves around events that you weren’t there for, it becomes impossible. There are only so many times you can try to insert yourself by asking things like “So, what happened then?” and then being talked over. Or hear things like, “You weren’t there so you won’t get it,” when they are laughing about something before you realize they don’t want you to be part of the conversation.

So I stopped trying and simply checked out, letting the conversation flow over me.

I don’t think anyone even noticed when I got up to go to the ladies, and that’s why I’m now sitting at the bar having a drink by myself, wondering why Ryan even asked me to come along. I bet if I left now, he wouldn’t even notice.

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