“Oh.” It was barely a whisper from me. “Sorry.”
He tilted his head slightly and scrutinized me. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Preston . . .”
“We did. I’m just here to talk to him.” And make sure he understands we’re over.
Dr. Lowe was dressed casually in jeans and a form-fitted t-shirt, and I forced myself not to think about what he would look like without them. I sucked in a deep breath and lifted my gaze to meet his.
“You haven’t told him,” he said in a low voice, “about what I did.”
“What we did,” I corrected, “and I’m not going to.”
Why did he look upset? Wasn’t he supposed to be relieved? “Why?”
“Because it won’t change what happened. All it’s going to do is hurt him, and the way things are between you two . . .” I didn’t want or need to say that Preston’s relationship with his father was fragile. “I don’t want to jeopardize what you have.”
Dr. Lowe put his hands on his hips, and his shoulders sagged in defeat. “I appreciate that, but—”
My phone chirped with an incoming message, interrupting us. I dug it from my purse and looked at the screen.
Preston: I think my dad’s home. I heard the garage door.
Great fucking timing, Preston. I put my phone away and shot Dr. Lowe a determined look. “I don’t want to hurt him. And telling him what we did?” I shook my head. “I can deal with it if he hates me. But not you.”
Before he could say anything, I put my hand on the doorknob and pulled open the door. Sounds of simulated gunfire echoed from the base of the stairs and grew louder as I hurried down, passing pictures of Preston and me hanging on the wall.
When I hit the bottom of the steps, I skidded to a stop.
Preston wasn’t alone on the couch. His friend Colin sat on one side, and Troy on the other, all three clutching controllers and focused on the TV screen. I balled my hands into fists at my side. Why the hell didn’t he tell me his friends were over?
Colin glanced my direction for a microsecond and flashed an easy smile. “Hey, Cassidy.”
Preston couldn’t be bothered to look away from the game. “What’s up?”
Anger tightened my vocal cords, but I choked it out. “We need to talk.”
“Yeah. Lemme finish this level, and . . . I’ll be right with you.” It was loaded with innuendo for his friends’ benefit, and they snickered.
My mouth fell open. Who was he these days? Just as I was about to snap, all three guys swore at the screen.
“Fucking shit,” Troy groaned, and his annoyed gaze rolled to his friends.
Preston stood and dropped his controller on the couch cushion. “I’ll be back in a few.”
“Only a few, huh?” Colin turned his gaze to me. “Poor Cassidy.”
Preston wasn’t amused. “Shut up, dude.”
He probably thought my icy expression was for Colin, when it was meant for him. I stayed silent as I followed him into his bedroom. I’d barely shut his bedroom door before his hands were on me, and I spun away.
“What are you doing?” I shrieked.
Preston wore a look of pure confusion. “Come on. They’re playing the game. They don’t care what we get up to in here.”
Did he think I was shrugging him off because I was embarrassed his friends might hear us? “Have you lost your mind? We broke up.”
He scowled. “You were serious about that shit?”
“Yes.” Very much yes.
My gaze left his and moved across his messy bedroom, and everywhere I looked, there was another painful reminder of what I’d brought to an end. The poster tacked to a wall was from the exclusive Black Keys show we’d gone to at the Ryman Theatre last year. A mason jar mug rested on his bookshelf. Our school had given them out as party favors at our senior prom. Taped to the mirror was a picture of us and our friends in the stands at the homecoming game.
Preston blinked, and his confusion evaporated. It shifted to irritation. “You’re going to end things with me just because I didn’t drop everything for you?”
Now it was my turn to be confused. “What?”
“You asked if you could come over and I said yeah. Troy and Colin were already here when you texted. What was I supposed to say? Get lost, because Cassidy finally wants to hang out with me? The world doesn’t revolve around you.”
“Are you kidding me?” I gasped. The audacity of his statement blinded me with rage, and my sarcasm was thick as syrup. “I know it doesn’t, because the world clearly revolves around you.”
He rolled his eyes, put his hands on his hips, and I was struck by how much he looked like his father. Only he was a spoiled, selfish version, and the opposite of the man upstairs. I couldn’t stay in this stifling room another moment. I needed to get away before my mind went to other comparisons I shouldn’t make.