He continues telling me about all the drama in their group, but I don’t listen anymore. The reminder of Alex’s obsession with money and how everyone wantshismoney is enough for me to know without a shadow of a doubt that I made the right decision when I blocked him everywhere.
“I’m sure the girls will be happy to see you again soon,” Cal finishes talking. I have no idea what he’s saying since I stopped listening a while back.
“See me where?”
“At the Christmas party,” he says like I should know.
Shaking my head in confusion, I try to remember what he’s talking about. Christmas is at least six weeks away, and I sure as hell don’t plan on spending it with my ex and his social group.
“It’s for the fundraiser Evie and the girls are putting together for the kids. I thought you RSVP’ed with a yes,” Cal explains when he realizes that I am lost.
I let out an internal groan at the reminder. The girls attached to the guys in Alex’s friend group decided to put together a Christmas event to raise money for children in need. It’s supposed to be a big affair. At the time when the invitations went out, I was back together with Alex, so I got one. Feeling good about life, I responded with a yes, which now does not apply anymore.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to make it, Cal.” I stare at the side of his face with what I’m hoping is complete disinterest. “Please give my regrets to Evie and the others. I’ll make sure to donate toward the cause.”
I don’t have a lot of money, especially at Christmas, and I don’t even know if I can put any to the side for this. If it wasn’t for the kids, I’d tell him to shove it altogether.
“No, you have to come,” Cal insists. “It’ll be a great time. Bring your date!”
I frown at that. “What date?”
“The guy from tonight,” he says. “It’ll be fun, and Alex…”
“You must think I’m stupid if you’re asking me to come hang out with Alex for Christmas,” I snap at him.
I have been so focused on our conversation that I didn’t even realize he parked the van in front of my building.
“How did you know where I live?”
He shrugs. “Alex told me. I had to drop him off once after he drank…”
I swallow hard at the reminder. There were so many instances when Alex would show up drunk at my apartment. It was usually after we had a huge fight. I’d open the door, and without words, he’d grab me and push me against the wall, kissing me until I couldn’t think anymore.
“It will be a lot of people at the party.” I hate hearing the pity in Cal’s voice. “And it would be a good opportunity to get closure.”
I roll my eyes at that. “How would I be getting closure, Cal?”
“Well…” It’s like he has to think of something to say now. “If you show up with another guy to an event where Alex is present, then you really are over him. It’s like fighting fire with fire.”
I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the door. “That is some stupid shit you’re spitting at me, Cal.”
He snorts. “It really is.” He stares at me for a few seconds. “You should come, though. The girls put a lot of work into everything. They spent hours on the guest list, and I know they would love to have you there. They’re not fans of Alex, but they do like you.”
I roll my eyes again, then look away. I never had any sort of connection to these girls. They were nice to me, but they knew I wouldn’t be around for long, so not like they wanted to be friends.
“You RSVP’ed yes,” Cal reminds me.
“Dude,” I huff. “It’s not like I signed it in blood. Things happen, and if I don’t want to go, I won’t go.”
He laughs softly. “Okay, message received.”
I pop the door open and jump out of the van, ready to march out of here and never see any of these people again. Just as I am about to slam the door shut, I have second thoughts about going to this party. I would love to show up with a hot date that I could rub into Alex’s face. I want his head to explode.
“Hey!” I call out to Cal. “Didn’t you and Evie meet on some date for events app?”
His face splits into a huge smile. “Technically, we’d met before that. But yeah, theHolidates. Ray and Hayden met through that, so and did Kyle and his girlfriend.”
I frown at that. “Isn’t it something to meet people if you need them for holiday events and stuff like that?”
