Melissa
Ididn’t want to admit this to myself.
I certainly wasn’t going to admit it to Hailey.
But when I saw Corey standing there, and we just froze in place, one waiting for the other to speak…
I could see why I’d fallen for him in the first place.
There were the physical features, of course, that I could see now as clear as day. The newly sharp jaw line. The haunting yet beautiful eyes. The slick hair. The muscular yet not steroid-sized body. Everything else that went with him.
But more than that, Corey just had a bit of a quiet presence to him. It was weird to say considering how much noise he made in my life, but when things were good with Corey, he just could walk into a room, not say a word, and I’d know immediately where he was and how he felt. I never quite figured out if other people got the same vibe, but such was Corey’s aura.
And when I walked out of the house and saw him, that came back immediately. Yes, it was Corey. Yes, he held me captive.
And yes, he was kind of nervous about seeing me.
And then he opened his mouth, and it felt like everything that was boiling under me pushed out whatever slight positive, reminiscent feelings I might have had.
What could I say? Corey doing something besides being a statue got under my skin, and I had to protect myself. And unfortunately, the more I spoke, the more I saw him turning into his old self, and the more I realized how fucking stupid I’d been for letting myself think that maybe there was something there.
Something, of course, being just peace of mind. Not like we’d ever get back together. Heaven forbid—I think my parents had a better chance of rediscovering happiness in their marriage than I did of actually winding up with Corey. Forget any relationship reasons or historical or personality differences—what the hell was I going to do, move back from Odessa? I’d left Phoenix and my career for a reason, and it wasn’t so I could kick myself and move back just a little bit later.
“Are you—”
“I’m fine,” I said curtly to Hailey as I kept my eyes out the passenger’s side window.
But was that reason really entirely Corey’s fault? Didn’t I have something to do with it? I wasn’t victim blaming myself, though seeing Corey and having the rush of emotions come back, plus having a couple years of maturation under my belt, made me reminisce on some things.
“What happened with you two?” Hailey said.
I groaned. Whatever introspection might have happened sure as shit wasn’t going to happen with Little Journalist over there trying to get me to open up.
“I told you. We dated for a bit. Things hit a rough patch. I told him I needed space. He wouldn’t give it to me. When I pulled away, he started harassing me. Stalking me. Making life so goddamn difficult, I had to move back to fucking Odessa, Texas. Do you know how low your life has to sink to move from Phoenix to Odessa? To move from a solid marketing job to back in with your parents and then watch your savings sink bit by bit?”
I bit my tongue before I said anything snarky about her and Sam. I already felt overly emotional about myself; God forbid I get my sister in the same state of mind, especially while she was driving. But it was definitely right there—just waiting to be unleashed if Hailey asked one too many stupid questions.
“I feel like that’s not everything,” Hailey said. “You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. I just want to understand. Why did things devolve the way they did?”
I hadn’t anticipated Hailey asking smart questions.
But the memories of going through all of that were extraordinarily painful. Not the least because when the times were good, they were really fucking good. Like, over the moon good.
Like, maybe this could last forever good.
But when I started to doubt if it could, in fact, last forever…
“I saw how you two looked at each other—”
“Stop!”
I screeched the word way too loudly. Hailey actually slowed the car down and pulled off to the side of the road. I took in a couple of deep breaths to prevent myself from getting even more…well, probably too late from that. I guess to prevent myself from going from overly emotional to hysterical?
“Jesus Christ, Hailey, why can’t you just leave things alone?” I said. “Do you think I enjoy what happened? Do you think I like the fact that when I see Corey, I can still recall the good times? Do you think it’s fun for me knowing it wasn’t all shitty and dark times? Fuck, if it was just all shit, I never would have lasted with him as long as we did, and I would never have even given him the chance to follow me! Do you think you’re doing me a favor, reminding me of this? What, do you want us back together?”
“Melissa—”
“No, shut up, Hailey. I warned you about the Devil’s Patriots. I told you they were bad news, but it wasn’t just because they’re criminals and bad boys. It’s because when things get good, they…fuck, Hailey, why didn’t you listen to me?”
