I plaster a fake smile on my face, choosing to ignore her first two questions, I answer the last. “I’m here another week, so I’m at your complete disposal.”
I’ve already been here a week, but I spent most of that time with my parents and reliving my teenage years in my childhood bedroom.
The barely healed scars on my heart painfully reopened the second I pushed open the door to my room when I arrived last week.
Apparently, my parents held onto the hope that I was going to return home and continue living as though nothing had happened. In all honesty, I think leaving my room the exact same was their way of reminding me exactly what I walked away from the day I left.
Instead of taking down the hundreds of pictures and letters that adorned my walls, I tortured myself with them. Every night this week, I’ve lain in my childhood bed and forced myself to relive every memory, every moment. I let myself feel the hurt, the guilt, theshame.It’s what I deserve, after all.
“Well, as much as I need the help, I need girls’ night more. So, we’re going out tonight.” Bella’s voice brings me out of my own head and back to the present.
My stomach sinks. “I don’t know, Bells.”
“Come on, Daisy. I haven’t seen you in three and a half years. We need to go out and have fun. I’ll invite Savannah and Liv,” she pleads with hopeful eyes.
“Who are they?” I ask, gnawing on my bottom lip.
“They moved here a few months ago. Savannah is Hunter’s girlfriend.”
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Hunter has a girlfriend?”
Hunter is one of three, and the oldest of the Calloway brothers. Bella and I spent a lot of time with them growing up because her older brother, who happens to be the very person I’m running from, is best friends with the youngest brother, Noah.
She nods. “Yep.”
“Wow. Never expected him to settle down.”
“I know, right? But he’s obsessed with Sav. And I think I’m obsessed with her best friend.” Bella sighs and a pang of jealousy hits me in my chest before I can stop it.
I have no right to be jealous that Bella has other friends. I left her high and dry without any kind of explanation.
I cut her off because I couldn’t face her after I left her brother.
It’s just another thing that’s my fault.
“Liv?” I question, barely concealing the envious tone in my voice.
“Yeah. You’ll love her. So, girls’ night?”
The pit in my stomach tells me I should say no. That I should suggest we do girls’ night at her apartment instead, but the guilt outweighs the doubt, and I find myself nodding. “Sure, let’s do it.”
Bella beams at me, bouncing up and down on the spot. “Yay! I’m so excited. We’re gonna have the best time.”
Her over excitement rubs off on me, and I feel myself smiling widely at my best friend as she does a little dance on the spot in front of her customers.
One night.
I can deal with one night.
KILLIAN
Hunter is fucking whipped.
That’s the only thought circling around in my brain as I mindlessly roll a paintbrush up and down the wall of his new girlfriend’s house.
Well, I say girlfriend, but the dude only met her a few weeks ago so it’s hard to be sure. If she isn’t his girlfriend already, she will be by the end of the night judging by the deep furrow that has been between his brows ever since the three of us informed him that he is in love with the girl.
I think he’s processing.
