Skylar didn’t return until after I had gone to bed that night. Zoe never showed up or any other member of her family. I cleaned up the tequila, the snacks and the rest of the mess with my one good arm and regretted what I’d said to Skylar the whole time. But convinced myself it was the right thing to do. And it was. For her. Regardless of how shitty I might be feeling about it.

Neither one of us might think that after what we experienced last night with each other, but in five years when she’s happily married with kids, I’ll be the only one left hurting. She’ll be happy and loving her life. And at least I’ll still have her as a friend.

The following morning, I make us breakfast, and yes, I now realize how much I could’ve been doing on my own instead of relying on Skylar.

She sits down at the table with a meek good morning while I place her egg white omelet filled with spinach and Parmesan cheese and a side of fruit on the plate in front of her. She’s sitting here in her pajamas, her nipples poking out of her tight tank top. I already noticed her short boxers that display the bottom of her ass.

“Thanks.” She moves her fork around the plate without picking a piece of food up. “I thought about it and if you want me to move on, I will.”

I blow out the breath I’d been holding since I heard her moving around upstairs.

She props one foot up on the edge of the chair, swinging her hair over to one side, leaving one side of her neck exposed. I slide into the chair to hide the chub in my pants.

“So, I think it’s fair to tell you that I should be hearing about grad school in the next few weeks. Also, I have a date this afternoon after your doctor’s appointment. I haven’t decided anything yet about grad school or skiing, so please don’t ask. I hope you’re right, Beckett.” She drops her fork and stares me in the eyes. “I hope you’re right. I hope us having sex didn’t already ruin our friendship otherwise, what’s the point of not exploring us as a couple? I guess only time will tell.”

I grab her hand from across the table. She doesn’t pull away, but she doesn’t grip my hand back, it just lays limp in my hands. “Thanks, Sky, I promise I’m leading us down the right path.”

She nods, slides her hand out from between mine and leaves the room. “I need to get ready.”

---

Two hours later, a silent Skylar and myself leave the doctor’s office with my cut off cast in a bag.

“My arm feels so small.”

“It looks smaller. The doctor said you’d have to gain your strength back.” She uses the key fob to unlock the doors to the minivan.

Even without a cast, I look like a schmuck sitting in the passenger seat—the mom missile is just salt in the wound.

“I have to stop at Walgreens. You can stay in the car.”

“No, I’ll go in with you.”

She says nothing and the volume of the music in the car rises and I see she’s increasing it on the steering wheel.

I reach forward, turning the knob down. “I think I’m going to catch a flight back to Utah.”

We need some time apart to forget all this, so we can go back to being us. In the meantime, I can’t sit here and pretend we’re good together. I should’ve never listened to my dick. All I had to do was endure a few more weeks.

“Oh. Okay.” She pulls into the Walgreens parking lot, the car about to tip on two wheels, and slams on the brakes seconds before we smash into the building. “I’ll be back.” She throws the van in park and gets out.

Fuck this.

I follow her into the store, her eyes fixated on the signs of each aisle, obviously, on a mission.

She turns down an aisle and I’m a step behind. She grabs a box of condoms and I reach for her arm.

“Don’t do this,” I snap.

She yanks her arm away from me, her eyes laced with anger. “You’re delusional.” Her voice is quiet even though there’s no one around us.

“I said I was sorry, damn it.”

The two of us stand in the middle of the aisle, our eyes laser focused on one another. “You think those cute dimples as a sorry is going to fix this?” she pokes me in the chest. “That’s why you’re delusional.”

She tries to walk away, but I whip her back around. “Don’t walk away from me.”

Again, she removes herself from my hold, her arm swinging to her side. “You want to do this here?” She waits for a second and when I don’t say anything she continues. “You broke me. Fucking broke me, Beckett.” Tears well up in her eyes. “And now a minute after you get your cast off, you’re going to hop on a plane back to Park City because you don’t need me anymore? Well, I don’t have to be okay with it. You aren’t the only one who gets to make decisions about us. You don’t want me? Fine. Someone else will. Someone else will be the one to fuck me every night. Someone else will have the pleasure of my lips wrapped around their dick. Someone else will give me the pleasure of bearing his child. Someone else will slip a ring on my finger.”

“Just fucking stop!” My fists ball up at my sides.

“What’s the problem, Myers? Too much detail for you?” She juts out her hip, her face red and flustered.

I hate what we’ve become, and truth is, if I stay it will only get worse. The only chance to salvage what we have is distance.

“I don’t need to hear it, I feel it.” I step closer. “I’m broken, too, Sky, but this is best. You have to trust me on this.”

“Right now, the sight of you literally nauseates me.”

I step back, her words cutting me.

“And for future reference, I don’t care how this affects you. Because you caused it. We could be happy, Beckett, but you’re choosing to run.” A tear slips down her cheek and my body instinctively moves toward her. Her hand lands on my chest, effectively leaving me in the cold. “Book the flight then.”

She circles around to exit the aisle the opposite way.

I notice a few lingering stares, but this is Chicago, surely, they’re used to this sort of thing?

“Sky? Are you okay?”

You have got to be fucking kidding me. This dipshit again? Does he not work for a living?

“Not you. Not now.” She holds her hand up to Ben and walks straight to the cash register.

“What did you do to her?” Ben asks me from the end of the aisle.

I lift my middle finger, turn and follow her like I always do.

“You hurt her,” he accuses me as I walk around him.

“So did you.”

“But?”

I whip around and surprise Ben. He steps back. “Back off, man. She’s moved on. You broke her heart years ago, so go home to Beth and remember you made that decision. Skylar’s my problem, not yours.”

He mocks offense and I roll my eyes then turn to face Skylar who’s standing there with her wallet open staring at us.

“I’m your problem? Fuck you.”

She pays the cashier, forcefully grabs the bag and flees the store.

“Why are you so twisted about that guy? It was years ago.” I’m hot on her heels as we walk toward the van.

She whips around in the middle of the parking lot. “Because it was mortifying! I thought I knew how he felt and then he goes and screws around with my best friend. Can you even process what that would be like? And here I am again…thinking I know how a guy feels about me, but I’m wrong again.”

She spins back around and sprints the short distance to where the van is park. Although I’m right behind her, she manages to get into the driver’s side, start the engine and lock me out.

---

I knock. “Sky, you aren’t going to leave me.”

She puts the van in reverse and I chase it down, pounding on the hood, but she just keeps on reversing until I have to decide if I want to break something else or stop chasing her. I figure she might as well cool off, so I stop, standing in the parking lot, watching her fishtail and drive away from me.

I always knew she’d leave me behind, this just wasn’t how I imagined it.