I took another long gulp. He’d used extra cream and sugar, but the coffee was hot enough to burn my throat on the way down.
He glared at me and set a bagel with bacon, egg, and cheese on the table. It was wrapped in paper, already transparent from the grease.
“Do you remember this?” He reached into his pocket and dug out his phone, unlocking the screen before shoving it into my face.
Me:I’m at McCays by the station. Come get
“Come get?” I read out loud. “Well, at least it was you I texted.”
“By the time I saw it and I made it there, figuringcome getmeant pick you up, you were gone. You didn’t see the ten missed calls on your phone?”
I shook my head and took a bite of the sandwich.
“I didn’t look at my phone until this morning.”
“You’re very fucking lucky that Emily saw you. This is how people end up on Netflix documentaries. They do stupid shit when they’re out and alone. Maddie and your parents haven’t had enough loss?”
“I know.” He said the same thing Emily had, but thinking of Maddie and my parents enduring more pain because of my stupidity made my stomach roll.
“Trust me. This will never happen again. I’ll talk to Dr. Asher and get the name of a therapist that I can see. Last night was a scary wake-up call.”
“Good.” He took a seat at the table and crossed his arms. “So, what did I interrupt with Emily?”
“I was pretty fucking awful last night. I said some very inappropriate things as she was trying to get me home. Got a little too close to her. From what I can remember of it, it was bad.”
“I guess the alcohol loosened everything else up too.” He eyed me over the rim of his own coffee cup.
“More or less, but we weren’t talking about that when you walked in. I asked her to kiss me. Begged her. And she did. It’s the only part of the night I can recall with vivid certainty.”
Caden sputtered his coffee before setting it down.
“Well, shit. What else happened? Did she stay here?”
“Yes, that part is a little fuzzy, but she told me I asked her to stay right before I knocked out. I apologized for everything else but kissing her because I’m honestly not sorry. I mean, sorry it happened like that, but?—”
“It would have happened eventually. You were blitzed enough to finally get out of your own way. What did she say after that?” Caden eyed me as he took a chomp out of his breakfast.
“She said something like, ‘I guess I’ll be going now that Caden is here.’”
“Ah, damn it.” He winced as he dropped his head back. “My father always said I have a special wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time talent.”
“Well, maybe a little.” I had to laugh. “But after last night, I think she needed some space. At least, I do. I think it’s going to be a long day once my parents and Maddie get back.”
“And then tomorrow, you’re going to go get her, right? Stop this stupid game.”
“I want to, but how? I’m obviously not holding things together that well. I swear to God, it feels like twenty years ago again. Emily is everything I want and nothing I can keep.”
“But it’s not twenty years ago. Stop fixating on that, for fuck’s sake. She’s here, not six hours away, and you’re both adults. Do you have baggage? Yes, but show me someone our age who doesn’t. You’re missing the big difference between then and now.”
“I’m missing a lot right now, so enlighten me.”
“You want her? Fight for her. She stayed, didn’t she? And she kissed you on her own? You’re sure it wasn’t a figment of your tipsy imagination or your sloppy drunk ass trying to kissher?”
“Nope, it happened, all right. Even in my fucked-up state of mind, I asked her to kiss me and didn’t just go for it. She even apologized to me just now because she was afraid she took advantage.”
Caden’s chest shook with a laugh as he cupped his forehead.
“Do you remember how the guys used to give you shit in school for having the same girlfriend for four years straight?”
