“Jason…”
“You want a real man, Pres? You know where to find me. And I’m serious about what I’m offering.”
“I know, Jason. It’s just… I love him.”
I said it, the words that have taunted me for the longest time. It’s both a relief and a burden to finally say it out loud. My lip begins to tremble as Jason glances at me with a sympathetic smile. He wraps me in his arms for a final goodbye, and my body comfortably rests against his as I struggle to hold back the tears. This new, emotional Presley is getting on my nerves. I have never cried so much in my life as I have over the past year.
Cupping my face in his hands, he wipes the tears away with the tip of his thumb. “I’m always here, Pres. Even as a friend. No, I don’t want just that, but we’ve got too much history to let go of everything we had, including our friendship. You know where I am… I’m always here.”
And that’s the thing about Jason. Once he steps into your life, there is no turning back. He may not be the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, or the man my heart so desperately beats for, but he will forever be a friend I can count on. And good friends like him are hard to come by.
With Jason gone, I have no choice but to face the music, and with every step back toward my room, my anger intensifies. I walk in, and Masen is sound asleep in his cot. Haden is still sitting on my bed, half-dressed. He is fidgeting with his phone, and the second he senses I’m in the room, his eyes lock with mine and glower back at me. With his lips pursed and his nostrils flaring, he throws his phone to the side, crossing his arms as he waits for me to talk.
“Get some clothes on,” I bark.
“Tell me why you went out with him!”
“None of your business. Now, will you just go?”
Why didn’t Vicky warn me he was here? My phone is inside my purse. I pull it out and see that the screen is covered with a dozen messages, all from Vicky. I don’t have time to read them now, and I storm off into my closet to take off my shoes. He is in there so fast, blocking the entrance by resting his body against the archway.
“Did he touch you?”
“I don’t have to answer that.”
“Did. He. Touch. You?” Haden yells, slamming his fist against the drywall.
I swiftly turn around. “Yes. Yes, he did. Get off your jealousy horse because I don’t belong to you. You’re full of shit, Haden. You don’t care about me or else you wouldn’t be marrying Eloise.”
“And everything I said meant nothing to you? I told you no one was to touch you but me.” He follows with a sinister laugh, shaking his head as he continues to block the exit. His body is exposed, and it becomes an unnecessary distraction.
From the corner of my eye, I can see his knuckles are stark white from clenching his fist so tightly. I have never seen him this enraged, and it scares me a little. But then I remember my conversation with Eloise yesterday, and I quickly change back to infuriated and bitter Presley.
“See, Malone, all along this is what I was afraid of. You’re running back to the love of your life.”
“I didn’t run, Haden. I was standing still. Waiting for you. You’re the one who broke me.”
“You want to know
why I proposed to Eloise?”
“Enlighten me, Haden.” I stand here, arms crossed, waiting for his pathetic excuse.
“Because I never felt good enough for you. I was never the man you wanted in your life. Eloise wanted me, but to you, I was nothing, and you went out of your way to constantly remind me of that. I’m a mistake, as you so often say. So, I’ll tell you what. You want to move to California with Jason? Then fucking do it! We were never going to work anyway.”
He moves away from the closet and back into the other room, grabbing his shirt.
There are no slamming doors.
No more sounds.
He is gone.
And I pushed him.
Or, maybe, he pushed himself.
It doesn’t matter because his words cut deep, and just like he said, we are never going to work, anyway.