Page 49 of Stuck With Mr. Frosty

“I got an offer to work here through the spring and summer.”

My head whips to the side, my grin wide. “Congratulations! I know you love it here. So what position did they give you?”

“Well, June is leaving after the season, so an activities coordinator position opened. She put my name forward, and I guess the big bosses liked my work enough to offer me a job when she’s gone.”

“You’re gonna be so good at the job that they’re not gonna know what hit them.”

“I know.” Rosie playfully tosses her hair over her shoulder, her smile growing. “And if you ever want to come back here, I’ll make sure to put in a good word for you too.”

“I don’t know if I could come back here after everything that’s happened.”

“I’m sure you could. You’re stronger than the bullshit.”

“I’ve always been told that resilience is one of my best qualities, but these days it feels like I’m just playing a game of catch-up.”

Rosie shakes her head. “When you leave here, you’re going to be just fine. I know you, Mia. You may not be teaching, but you’re gonna find out what makes you happy, whatever that might be.”

I sigh, staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know. All that’s been on my mind is how I’m just about to leave him. I don’t know what he’s doing right now. I haven’t seen him in the last couple ofdays. He comes and goes without so much as a goodbye or hello. Somehow, in a span of just a couple weeks, we’ve become strangers.”

Rosie pats my thigh. “You know, we should go to the staff party tomorrow night. It’s gonna be the last chance we have time to party together before you leave me here alone.”

“You’re not gonna be alone.”

“You know what I mean. I’m gonna miss you. And if this is the last chance we have to go to drink too much tequila and dance to songs we don’t know the words to, then we’re going to do it. I don’t care if you don’t feel like going out. I will drag you kicking and screaming.”

“And I suppose it’s for my own good.”

“It is for your own good.” Rosie grins and rolls onto her side to face me. She grabs the corners of my mouth and turns them upward. “There’s your smile. I’ve been missing it.”

Laughing, I swat her hands away from me. “I’ve been smiling just fine.”

“Sure, sure.” Rosie pushes up to her feet as Honey comes trotting into the room. “Promise me that you’re not gonna leave tonight while we’re all sleeping and that you’ll stay for one more day and go to the party with me.”

“I promise,” I say, patting the bed beside me as Honey jumps up.

“Good. Aiden is gonna be there.”

I scowl at her, a pit forming in the bottom of my stomach. “Well, if that’s the case, maybe I’ll sit this one out. I can hang around until you get back. Then we can talk all about the party and whoyou think you’re going to hook up with out of the people who stay.”

“Come on! You have to go to the party and talk to him one last time. I don’t think the two of you should end on this note.”

“With everything that’s going on between us, I don’t see another note to end on. This is the way he wanted things, and this is the way they’re going to be.”

Rosie gives me a flat look. “Is this really howyouwant things to end, though? You were half of the relationship, so you get a say in it too. You don’t have to just roll over or pretend to be fine just because he’s being difficult.”

I shake my head sadly. “This isn’t some romance movie where the quarterback comes running in at the end of the third quarter. He’s not going to rush up into the stands telling me that he loves me as I’m on my way out the door. Something shifted for him. It changed. And that happens to people. He’s entitled to his feelings the same way I’m entitled to mine.”

“Sure, it is.” Rosie heads for the door, pausing in the doorway. “But is this one of those things you want to regret later on in life?”

She leaves, shutting the door behind her, her words echoing in my head. I don’t know if this is the kind of regret I want to live with. I’ve done my best so far not to live with any. And maybe that’s led to Aiden thinking that I’m nothing but somebody who’s there for a good time and a short time.

But at this point, I thought he knew me better than to think that I was a flake. I thought he knew that I wanted something more than just the superficial with him. I thought that one of these days, we were finally going to get around to talking about it.

Maybe Rosie’s right.

I was half of this relationship, and maybe I get something to say about it too.

CHAPTER 20

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