Page 27 of Meet Me at the Metro

“Ex-boyfriend,” I correct.

“Right,” she nods assertively. “Nonetheless, there’s no saving grace for his lousy arseorthat friend of yours. Karma’s going to be a bitch to his micro-sized penis!”

“Evie’s right. It’s pathetic enough that he cheated on you, let alone with your best friend. You can’t get much lower than that. I’m so sorry that they did that to you.”

“It’s not your fault,” I mutter, my head suddenly swarming with too many thoughts. “At least I found out sooner than later, right?”

The statement does nothing to make me feel better about everything, but I need to at least try and find something positive in all of this to help me cope.

“That’s a good way to look at it,” Harvey agrees. “You deserve more than what he was giving you anyway.”

“Okay, but can we address thereal elephantin the room?!“ Evie jabs a finger at me. “What’s going on with you andTheo,huh?”

“Nothing,” I blurt, immediately resenting the small smile I feel tugging at the edge of my lips. It’s surprising how quickly my thoughts of John and Lucy mold into ones of the little adventure I went on tonight. Before even knowing what happened, Theo gave me the distraction I desperately needed, even if that distraction didn’t last as long as I would ever want to willingly admit. “There’s absolutely nothing going on between the two of us.”

“Mhmm,”they both hum.

“Seriously! Nothing’s going on. I ran into him on the train, and the night continued from there.”

“Full of shit, the girl is,” Evie chuckles.

“Am not!” I laugh, kicking her with my foot. “Besides, he practically hates me.”

“Oh, please,” she scoffs. “Judging by how damn worried that fool was when he first showed up here looking for you, I can hardly believe he hates you—that, and the fact that he even let you in his bubble, to begin with. Theo doesn’t go out of his way tohang outwith people like that…Ever.”

“He does with you guys,” I interject. “And he’s actuallyniceto you two. He’s a complete asshole to me. He snaps over the smallest things. I don’t understand what he gets so worked up about half the time.”

“Theo’s just had a hard go at life the last ten years,” Harvey explains. “I mean, that’s no excuse for his behavior toward people sometimes, but I thought you should know that. It’s probably not about him not liking you… I think most of the time, Theo just has a hard time liking himself,so he tries to keep people out so he doesn’tfeel like a burden to anybody.”

A burden.

I swallow the sudden lump in my throat, suddenly realizing just how much weight and truth my words held tonight.

I’m just trying to figure you out.

Maybe he doesn’t want me to—maybe it’s precisely why tonight spiraled so suddenly.

“He really is a great guy, Ellie,” Harvey says. “Just gotta get past that tough exterior.”

I wondered if it was worth the work even to try. I think about Theo and his friendship with Harvey and Evie and wonder how much effort they put forth to break past his walls. “How do you two know him, anyway?”

“You’ve seen that pub down the street, right—Gullie’s?”Evie asks.

“Yeah, actually. I remember seeing it that first night I got here.”

“Well, he bartends there. Harvey and I used to go there all the time, and Theo would serve us. Before we knew it, the three of us were having movie nights together every other weekend and game nights every Wednesday. He even came and lived with us for a little while.”

“But he moved out? Why?”

“Personal reasons,” she shrugs. “He didn’t leave on bad terms or anything. Theo really values his personal space most of the time, and I guess it’s easier for him to keep up his guard that way… even though it appears he’s utter shit at it when he’s around you.”

“He seems pretty good at it to me,” I argue, crossing my arms across my chest and biting back another smile because I refuse to let either one of them see just how giddy that notion made me.

Harvey nudges me with his elbow and raises his dark brows teasingly. “You know, you two wouldn’t look so bad together, Ellie.”

“They’d get the hate-fucking down pat,” Evie chimes in, and I swear their laughter is loud enough to shake the thin walls surrounding us.

I stand up from the couch before they can tease me anymore and give them both a kick of my foot before I stalk back to my bedroom. “I’m going to bed!”

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