Page 102 of Tell Me It’s Right

“So this is why you haven’t called me back? Iknewit. I knew it the second I saw this.” She waves her phone around, but I can’t see whatever she has pulled up on the screen.

“How did you even find me here?” Liam demands.

“I went to your apartment first. Was planning to swing by Leo’s, then I remembered I follow Keava’s accounts.” She shrugs and crosses her arms. “She posted on her stories.”

Okay…that’s incredibly stalker-ish.

“You need to leave, Hailey,” says Liam.

“So ending a nine-year relationship doesn’t even warrant a conversation, huh?”

“We’vebeenover,” snaps Liam. “There’s nothing left to talk about.”

“We’ve been on abreak.” She flicks her wrist toward me. “Something you’ve clearly taken full advantage of. You said you needed some space to think. To think aboutus. To figure out how to make this work.”

Every word that comes out of her mouth is dripping with spite and vitriol, the same way it did in those voicemails. And I don’t know a damn thing about her, but everything about her energy feels wrong.

And yet. Her words poke at something soft and vulnerable inside of me.

I turn to look at Liam’s face.

Is that what Leo knew that I didn’t? Why he didn’t want me involved with him?

“Do you…do you want me to…?” I start to take a step back, suddenly feeling very stupid. Like I inserted myself somewhere I don’t belong.

But Liam’s hand shoots out and lands on the small of my back. His eyes are wide, earnest, as they stare into mine. “No,” he murmurs. “No.”

Hailey scoffs and paces through the gravel.

Liam’s jaw hardens as he turns to her. “If you came all the way down here for this, you wasted your time. Since apparently I wasn’t clear enough before, this is over, Hailey. Completely. I don’t want to hear from you again. I don’t want to see you again.And I definitely don’t want you showing up around the people I care about. So you can either leave now or I can call the police.”

She laughs, the sound loud and mocking. “The police? Really, Liam? Is this act supposed to impress your new girl? You’ve always been so fucking dramatic.”

“If he doesn’t, I will,” I say. “Get the fuck off my parents’ lawn.”

Liam blinks at me, surprised. Honestly, I’m surprised too at how hard my voice comes out. But the patronizing way she was talking to him snapped something inside of me.

I whip out my phone for emphasis.

Her nostrils flare as she glares at me, and after several moments of tense silence pass, she turns around and climbs into her car.

Liam and I don’t move until her brake lights disappear in the distance.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “About your birthday. I’ve really screwed everything up?—”

“Shh.” I lay my hand on his arm. And when he turns, he looks at me like a desperate, cornered animal. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Liam drives us to his apartment, but we don’t get out after he parks. He didn’t say a word on the way over here, and neither did I. I didn’t know what to say, if saying anything would help or hurt. I’ve never seen that look in his eyes before, and his grip on the wheel the entire way over here was bone-crushing. I can’t tell which he’s more affected by—Hailey showing up or that argument with Leo. Maybe it’s both.

“I need you to know that Hailey and I were never just on a break,” he says suddenly. “We’ve been broken up for nearly a year. And even before that, we were on and off.”

I nod but say nothing.

“And what Leo said—I know you heard all of that—it’s not true. I know why he thinks that, and I’ve never corrected him because…well, he doesn’t know…” He sighs and roughs a hand through his hair. “It’s complicated. I just, I don’t want you to think of me like that. Because I’ve never—after Hailey?—”

“Liam.” I lay my hand on his arm. “Take a breath. It’s okay.”

He stares at my hand for a moment before gently laying his on top. “I didn’t mean for you to leave your party.”

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