Somehow I must’ve fallen back to sleep because I woke up a couple hours later to a loud banging on my door. Slinging the covers off, I walk to the door without stopping at the mirror like I usually do and peek out the hole.
Dread leaves my body when I realize it’s Eric and not Ashton coming back. I unlock the deadbolt and pull the door open.
“You left?” He questions, pushing his way inside. “Why?”
I feel a warmth in my chest just looking at him. I shouldn’t be feeling like this about my best friend’s ex.
“We made a huge mistake. We can’t do this.”
“Can’t do what?” He barks, “Be happy? Fall in love?”
I step back in shock, “Love?”
“Yes, Jolene. Last night was…” he pauses, stepping closer to me, “Amazing. I’ve never felt like that before.”
I push him back, “Stop! You can’t say things like that to me, Eric!”
He stares at me. His eyes are frantic, searching me. “Don’t run from this. I know that you felt it too.”
He lifts his hand to wipe a tear from my cheek. A tear I didn’t even realize was there. “I will eventually talk to Hanna,” He blurts, “This is everything that I have always wanted to feel, and now that I’ve felt it? I realize that maybe it was always you, Karly.”
The way he calls me by my actual name sends goosebumps down my arms.
“Don’t say that to me,” I beg. “Not when Hanna’s picture is still on your nightstand.”
He steps back, realizing what caused me to leave. “Karly, that picture is the only picture I have of Ellie in the entire house.”
“You still love them.”
“Yeah,” He admits, “I do, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel some type of way about you.”
“You should go,” I whisper, walking toward the door.
“Karly, just wait,” he begs, “Let’s talk about this, please. We can’t pretend like last night never happened.”
“Sure we can,” I quip, “Because if we don’t… It means that I lose my best friend.”
He grabs both sides of my face, tilting my head up to him, “She’d want you to be happy.”
I let out a manic laugh, “with her ex? You obviously don’t know her at all if you really believe that.”
“Karly, just stop!” He booms, “Hanna left me. She loves someone else. It’s not like I broke her heart and jumped into her best friend’s bed. The circumstances here are a little different.”
“It’s only been a month,” I remind him, “It’s too fresh. It’s going to feel like I betrayed her. Oh my God, I did, Eric. I betrayed her.”
I start pacing the floor, running my hands through my hair. “This is a disaster.”
“Stop,” he says, his voice calm and reasonable. Not at all how I feel. “Karly, I promise you that everything is fine. Everything will be fine.”
He tugs at the hoodie that I’m wearing, reminding me that it’s his, “Sorry,” I say sheepishly, “I was going to return it. I was afraid it would be cold this morning.”
“You wouldn’t have needed the hoodie if you were still in my bed,” he smirks.
I slap his arm, “Stop it. This is serious, Eric.”
“You’re right. It is serious, and it’s a real problem that you left.”
I roll my eyes, “the only problem is that I’m a home wrecker that jumped into bed with my best friend’s ex-fiancé.”