"At least I'm honest about my commitment issues." He leans back in his chair. "You pretend you don't have any, then freak out the minute you feel something real."
"That's not—" I start to protest, then stop. Maybe he's right. "It was just sex, Ty."
Mind-blowing sex.
"Was it?"
I think about her laugh. The way she looked at me on the dance floor, all heat and challenge. How perfectly she fit against me. How it felt different right from the beginning.
"You really like her." It's not a question.
"I barely know her."
"Bullshit. You know her enough to know you like her."
I run a hand through my hair, frustration mounting. "Fine. Yes. I like her. And that's exactly why I left."
"That makes zero sense."
"It makes perfect sense. I was distracting her from something. I was there and convenient."
Tyler rolls his eyes. "Convenient. Right. Because women always throw themselves at strange men in bars when they're sad."
"Some do."
"Not women like her." He gets up, takes our plates to the sink. "That woman knew exactly what she was doing. And I'm betting she wasn't thinking about anything else when she was doing it."
I stare into my coffee, remembering how she'd looked at me. Not through me, not past me. At me.
"You should call her," Tyler says.
"I don't have her number."
"So get it." He turns, leaning against the counter. "Do the old 'look up the girl in the phone book trick.' Or find her on Facebook and send her a friendrequest, fuck it, stalk her TikTok or Instagram and see if she frequents any local spots and just so happen to bump into her. And then you can apologize to her for being an asshole."
I nearly choke on my coffee. "That's your advice? Social media stalking?"
"Got a better idea, genius?"
"I work with her."
Tyler freezes mid-dish scrub. "What?"
"I work with her. She told me she was a Marketing Project Manager."
"Hold up." He points a soapy finger at me. "You slept with someone from your new job and then ghosted her? Are you clinically insane?"
The full weight of my situation crashes down. "I didn't know we were about to be coworkers when we met."
"But you knew before you left this morning."
"I saw a Titan Marketing Group sweatshirt on her dresser before I left and put two and two together." I drop my head into my hands. "I'm so fucked."
"Monumentally." Tyler shakes his head. "First day at the new gig’s Monday, right? Better practice your 'I'm not a complete asshole' speech."
"She's going to hate me."
"Yup, she doesn't seem like the type of woman who sugarcoats shit, but maybe she'll hate you less if you show up with coffee and genuine remorse."
