Page 6 of Bad Reputation

Instead, I replay for about the thousandth time the bits of information I’ve gotten about her from our mutual friends. I asked Evie how Emma was doing about two weeks ago. I got a stony stare in return. Evie raised a brow, and told me that Emma is just fine.

Her chilly attitude let me know that Emma told her everything… and that Evie didn’t approve of how I handled the situation. I didn’t need any of Evie’s disapproval. I have plenty of my own misgivings without her adding salt to the wound.

I push my cart down the cereal aisle and grab my favorite brand of granola. I broke down and asked Asher about his sister last week, when we were working together. He just gave me a weird look and said that she’s fine.

So that’s all I know. She’s fine. She’s just… gone.

From my life, anyway. I would’ve expected to see her in Cure maybe, or hanging out with Asher at some point. After all, she has always just sort of shown up before this.

Now, I guess I ruined that.

I wander down the aisles, a faint squeaking coming from my cart. It’s been a month, and I’m just feeling stuck.

Stuck in life. Stuck on her. I’ve never been in a relationship whose half-life was so long. Hell, I’ve never mourned a fling for more than a few days.

And that’s what I told her we had. Just a fling.

The hurt on her face when I said that… it will haunt me forever. That was the moment that I would take back if I could.

But then of course, nothing would have been fixed or resolved. I would’ve been on a collision course with Asher, for sure.

I turn the cart around the end of an aisle, heading back to the front. At the far end of the aisle, looking at different types of pasta, is Emma.

I freeze, staring at her. She looks as beautiful as I remember, with her long raven locks tucked up in a crown braid. Her svelte figure is neatly wrapped in a sundress, and she’s wearing those insanely tall heels that show off her legs.

I swear, if I was a cartoon, I would be a wolf, with my tongue rolling out and my eyes shaped like hearts. She senses someone looking at her and glances my way.

After getting used to her sunny smile and warm greeting whenever she saw me, I’m blown away by her black look. She scowls at me, turning to push her cart away as fast as she can go. She disappears around the corner.

Abandoning my cart where I was standing, I all but sprint in her direction. It takes a second for me to find her, a few aisles down, but I take advantage of my height and speed.

“Emma,” I call to her, halfway down the aisle.

The look she throws over her shoulder is pure ice. I pay no heed, just hurry up. By the end of the aisle, I’ve caught up with her.

“Emma, please wait.”

She stops, hesitation in every movement, and then turns around. She doesn’t look very happy to see me. “What?”

“I just… I wanted to see you. You know, make sure you’re doing okay,” I say lamely.

She rubs one of her temples. “I’m okay. You’ve seen me.”

She starts to turn away again, and I reach out and grab her arm. She looks at my hand like it is the devil, trying to gain access to her soul. She wrenches herself away.

“What are you trying to do here, exactly?” she hisses.

“Sorry,” I say, stepping back and holding my hands up. “I just… I don’t know. I’ve been trying to check up on you for a while.”

She looks pissed. “Here I am. You’ve seen me. Are you happy with that?”

“No,” I admit honestly. “I was hoping that we could… you know, still hang out. Be friends, go to restaurants.”

She squints at me. “You mean you want things to go back to the way they were before we had sex?”

“Yeah. I was thinking we could—”

She tosses her head. “You realize that’s friendzoning, right? Like, hey you, I want you to do all the things with me that I should do with a romantic parter, but without the romance.”

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