She leans into me. “It was only a few months.” Her voice hitches as she presses her face into my shoulder, and I feel her sob into me, the energy of her sorrow flowing through me like an electric current. “I was sad,” she says, sounding so worn down I want to wrap her in layers of blankets and let her sleep for a week. “And I missed you so much.” Her body relaxes as if the hurt is flowing out. “And he loved me. I still care about him. I should have told you, shouldn’t I? I was so afraid. I couldn’t bury the hope that you and I might get back together.”
“Neither could I.” I kiss her hand. It feels warm and feverish.
“Everyone said if you ever found out, you wouldn’t forgive me.”
I pull back and look at her. “Everyone said that?”
Chelsea pauses for a moment. “Emily.”
Emily.
“Well, she was wrong. I broke up with you. You’re allowed to fall for someone else. If you’d just been honest… I was afraid it wasn’t completely over between you and Ryan.”
“It was. It is. He just can’t let it go.” Her expression darkens.
But before I can answer, there’s a huge splash outside.
The wave of cold crashes over me so quickly, so violently, that for a second I’m stunned speechless.
I close my eyes. “Son of amother.”