“Okay,” I whisper.
I am reeling from his words. What is up with this guy? One minute he’s yelling at me for sleeping in his bed, and the next he’s trying to get me to open up to him and reassuring me that my sadness is valid, which is extremely… nice of him.
“They deserve each other,” Nick mutters under his breath, and I stare at him.
Did he really just say that?
“Who?”
“You know who,” he says, and suddenly, he’s smiling.
I hate that my heart skips a beat as he smiles. His teeth are perfect, except for one of his incisors, which slightly overlaps one of his other teeth. I can’t help but smile back. He has an infectious smile.
“Sometimes I imagine that they’ll both contract genital warts, and it makes me feel a little bit better,” I say, before clamping my hand over my mouth.
Nick howls with laughter, smacking his knee.
“Good one,” he says, smiling.
“God, I have no filter,” I mumble, but I’m smiling.
“Can I ask what happened?”
I sigh and look down. Here goes nothing. “My ex-friend slept with my ex-boyfriend when I was supposed to be at the library studying. I walked in on them. Dan and I were together for seven years.”
I wait for his response. When I thought about how this day would go, confiding in Nick about Dan and Mia was about the last thing I envisioned happening. And even more surprising, I wanted to tell him everything.
How I walked in on Dan and Mia.
In our bed, my bed.
Naked.
How they both looked so guilty, and yet so comfortable with each other.
How they sat me down and told me they were falling in love.
How, somehow, Dan broke up with me, and I walked away thirty minutes later without my dignity and without a home.
How I showed up at my parents’ house a complete wreck and didn’t come out of my childhood room for a week.
How Dan packed up all of my things like I was an inconvenience.
How Dan never called.
How Mia never apologized.
How they made me feel like it was my fault.
I run my fingers through my hair uncomfortably.
“Like I said in my email, Dan sounds like a tool,” Nick says, and he stands up. “And anyone who calls themselves your friend but then cheats with your boyfriend was never your friend. She never deserved your friendship.”
“Yeah,” I say, trying not to notice Nick’s bare stomach as he stretches his hands above his head.
“I’m going to go shower,” he says casually. “Make sure Bria doesn’t stay out there for too long,” he says, chuckling.
“Won’t you be late for work?” I ask. It’s past nine already. He comes around the breakfast bar and sets his coffee mug in the sink. I’m leaning against the counter two feet away, and I catch a whiff of him—sweat and cinnamon. I try to pretend I don’t like it, but I do. I like it a lot. Too much. I take in his basketball shorts and T-shirt. He must’ve just worked out.
“Taking the day off, Ms. Halle,” he says, brushing past me. I ignore the shivers that trill down my spine as the air between our bodies moves. I look up at him just as he looks back. His eyes work their way into mine, and I feel my body stiffen. “We should do something with Bria today,” he says cheerfully, and just like that, he’s gone.