I swallow deeply, turning my face to view it.
Pressing play again, the camera shifts. Its focus is now on Tobias. Only, he looks different here. He’s not the calm, warm Tobias I know. Instead, his face is raw, furious as though my pain is his own. He shoves Harry, rips his phone from his hand, smashes it against the floor—plastic and glass exploding.
My breath hitches. I didn’t know. I yelled at him that night, pushed him away… and the whole time, he was fightingforme. Love warms my chest even more than it already was before.
“I didn’t know you two were so…close.” She pauses the video.
I stare at it, like it has more to say. Even though I already know how the rest went. Tobias chased after me, and I shooed him away like a dumbass.
I shook my head. “We were close when we were kids but not then…”
And yet heprotectedme. While I hated him, he jumped to my defense because that’s what kind of man Tobias is.
“He was in love with you.”
My eyes connect with hers, and I see the slightest glimmer of pain mixed with compassion.
I roll my bottom lip into my mouth and nod gently. “Yeah…apparently he was.” I can’t help the soft smile that finds its way on my face.
“You two are more than just brothers, aren’t you?” She asks carefully.
My lips twitch. “Yeah…I fell for him pretty hard, I guess.”
She nods her head and looks back down at her phone.
“And then, I saw this from this past summer.” Scrolling through Tobias’s Instagram profile, it’s clear, judging from the numerous photos he has posted with me in them, that we share more than just a close bond.
Pictures of my back standing at theBloom & Brewcoffee shop, looking up at the menu that hung on the wall behind the bar. Or me lying down in the grass with my hat over my face and a book lying on my chest with my hands behind my head. Or the picture hejustposted of me and him during our last run of the season with the caption: My world. My stomach flips just looking at them all and reliving the memories of this past summer.
“Why didn’t you justtell me?I would’ve understood.” Her voice breaks slightly as she sits down on my bed.
I run my hand through my hair and lean back on my desk chair. “I’m not sure I fully understood myself. That’s why I needed to end things. So that I could figure it out without hurting you.”
She bit her lip. “Yeah, I mean, Iwaspretty angry with you. I mean, you dropped me like I was nothing.” She absentmindedly softly punches her fist into my pillow.
I tilt my head as my gaze lingers on her. My heart aches thinking of what that would’ve felt like. “Katie, I’msosorry. You were a great girlfriend, but…”
“You’re just in love with someone else.” She shrugs simply.
I nod my head. “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
I’m surprised to see a small smile creep up on her face. “Well, are you going to tell me about him or just stand there looking all sad at me?” She leans back on my bed and props herself up on her elbows.
My eyebrow arches. “Wouldn’t that be weird? Being friends with your ex…”
She rolls her eyes at me. “I got over you last year, thank you. Plus, Tobias is hot. The thought of you two together–”
I laugh, flopping down on the bed beside her. “Okay, okay. Enough.”
“No, we’re only getting started. You’re stuck with meallllyear long. I want to hear about everything—first kiss, first time.” She laughs, nudging me off the bed with her foot.
“I’m already so done with you,” I groan, crawling back on.
“Mark my words, you’ll be sick of me.”
She waves toward my bare walls. “And this—thisis a problem. Where are all your posters?”
“Fuck off, Ijustmoved in,” I laugh.
