Desiree grabbed my hand, squeezing it between her own. “Tori, it’s been two weeks since my wedding, and we’ve barely talked. We used to talk every day, and that doesn’t happen anymore. I mean, I understand you being mad about the thing with Avery, but it seems like this distance started before then. What’s up with that?”
I sighed, averting my eyes away. I didn’t feel like getting into this with her. Des and I had been friends since college, and we’d been like sisters. We experienced heartaches and triumphs together, had many of the same successes, but what brought us closest together was learning from our similar mistakes, especially in love. Before, we could laugh about it after we cried, but once Des met Drew, something shifted, and she became incredibly judgmental of everything I did. Especially with Rafael. Yes, she had been right, but she was still supposed to be my friend. I could handle her criticism, delivered in love, but hypocrisy? Hell no. So instead of cursing out the friend I loved, I simply took a step back, and remained insular so she wouldn’t hurt herself coming up with ways to chastise.
“It’s nothing, Des. I just haven’t been feeling great. And you just got back from your honeymoon last week.”
She scowled. “So you’re lying to me now?”
“What?”
“Tori… are you really not going to mention that you got divorced?”
Ohh, screw you Avery.
I sucked my teeth, annoyed at myself all over again for divulging that information to her stupid brother. “Honestly, I hadn’t planned on it, because I don’t want to talk about it.”
Des crossed her arms over her chest as she flopped back in her chair. “So you talked to Avery of all people about it but you can’t talk to me?”
“I’m sorry, Des, but you just got married! Why would I want to bring down your wedding bliss with my crappy news, to hear you say ‘I told you so’? If it makes you feel any better, I regret ever breathing the same air as your brother.”
“We’re friends, Tori, have been for years. You didn’t have to suffer in silence, but I did tell you not to marry that man. And I know I’ve already said this, but I’m so sorry about my asshole brother.”
I shrugged. “It’s not your fault. I’m sure you didn’t know that was gonna happen.”
“Well, I knew he had this ‘thing’ about matchmakers, online dating, stuff like that, but I didn’t know he was gonna go all crazy and be mean to you like that. Ever since he broke up with Natalie, he’s been a mess. It was about two years ago, but they were together for three years. I didn’t know her that well, but he told me he was gonna marry her, but then some stuff happened between them, and it messed him up.”
Twirling a tendril of hair around my finger, I tried to fight the sudden surge of sympathy I felt for Avery. Two years was a long time to stew over heartbreak, but due to nature of Matched, I had a lot of experience with the fragility of the male ego. And their emotions? Jeez. It was a complete misconception that men didn’t get their feelings hurt, couldn’t be heartbroken, or any of that. An emotionally wounded man could be just as volatile as a woman could. If he had kept his feelings bottled up after being hurt, and internalized them, it wasn’t all that surprising that he was still working through it.
“That’s too bad,” I said, settling on a neutral response as I tucked the strand of hair behind my ear.
“It is, but it’s not an excuse. He did apologize, didn’t he?”