Page 28 of Those Heartbreak Scars

“Oh my God, I caught you.” Indy’s excited voice pipes through the speaker. “It feels like we haven’t had a chance to speak in weeks.”

“Sorry.” Guilt washes over me.

We’ve both been busy these past couple months. Texting is easy, but calling is more difficult so we only manage it a few times a week. But I’ve been missing her calls more often. I don’t want to say on purpose, but definitely to avoid having a conversation.

She doesn’t know that I’m not going to school anymore. She doesn’t know that I’ve been fucking Gray behind her back.

“It’s fine. We’re both so busy these days. But I’m glad I caught you. I hate that you’re so far away. It’s not the same without you and…”

“Gray,” I say.

“Have you heard from him? EJ said he saw you in Positano. And I know he was there with Gray. But you never said anything about it.”

“I saw him.” Flirted with him. Fucked him. And again last night. And this morning. I regret it so goddamn much. So sorry. Can you ever forgive me?

I put the umbrella down to open the flat door. It’s warm inside, the lights on. Dove is singing in the bathroom.

“Is he doing okay?” she asks. “EJ won’t tell me anything, but I just need to know… I’m worried about him. Has he moved on? Or at least having fun? I just wish we could be friends again.”

What we’ve been doing can hardly be called fun. I close the umbrella and put it away. And them becoming friends… that seems as likely as him falling in love with me. “I saw him.”

“And?”

“He looked good, I guess. I think he was having fun.” I dump the bags on the kitchen counter and start unpacking them. She doesn’t need to know the details of that fun or how he told EJ that he’s still heartbroken over her. That will help no one.

“You guess?”

“Well, I was kind of busy.”

“Oh.” Her voice lights up. “You have a new guy, don’t you? Someone you met on your vacation? Is he local? Are you dating? Is that why you’ve been so quiet lately?”

“Hang on.” I take off my jacket and hang it up. I can tell her about Everett. Get her opinion. Maybe it’s time I tell her about school. We don’t need to talk about Gray.

I set the phone up against the portable speaker on the counter then put her on video call.

She’s put on healthy weight. Her hair is short and tipped with blue. She looks much better these days. Seeing her like thismakes me so happy I can barely hold back tears. I’m so glad we didn’t lose her.

Her eyes widen and her lips curve. “Is that a hickey?”

“What? Where?” I peer at the small image of me in the corner of the screen. Oh my God, that was not there this morning. Gray gave me a hickey. It’s only a small bruise, but it’s dark. How did I not notice that earlier? The asshole bit me and I’ve been completely oblivious all day.

If I’d planned to see Everett tonight he would have noticed it straight away. The asshole marked me so that I wouldn’t want to see Everett… is that… is he fucking kidding?

And why does that make me all giddy? It’s not cute.

“Curry. Yum. That smells delicious.” Dove comes in, her platinum hair piled high in a bun on her head. The bruising around her eye is much less obvious with all the makeup hiding it. “I’m right starving.”

“Dove!” Indy calls my flatmate's name with delight. “Did you see this bitch has a hickey?”

Dove’s gaze shoots straight to my neck. “Is that—”

I shoot her a look to shut up before she asks me which dick it was. “Hemust have done it last night. I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”

“Well,heis a sneaky bastard.” Dove disappears into the fridge and comes up with a bottle of tonic water. “You did get the gin?”

“Of course.” I slide the bottle toward her. It must be all the practice but her G and T’s always taste better than mine. And of course I haven’t told her about Gray showing up at the coffee shop this morning.

“Does thishehave a name?” Indy asks. “And can I join in on this girl’s night? Theo just left for work.”

---