“But don’t the greatest risks have the greatest rewards?”
The corner of Callie’s mouth lifted. “You want me to let him in.”
“No. I want you to be happy. What you went through was heartbreaking, but before that, youwerehappy together. Happier than I’d ever seen you. I would give the world for you to have that again.”
Callie pulled her friend into a hug. “Thank you. You’ve always been the best friend to me.”
Aspen’s arms wrapped around her. “Ditto.” They separated and Aspen cocked her head. “Now, I need you to get your skinny butt into those queen pajamas so we can eat ice cream and watch Arnie kick some ass.”
Callie chuckled, and God it felt good to laugh.
For the rest of the night, she ate way too much ice cream, followed by the Chinese—yes, dessert first. They watched the first twoTerminatormovies and belly laughed.
A few times during the night, Aspen’s phone lit up, but every time Callie asked about it, her friend waved it off as nothing until she eventually switched her phone off completely.
Which was strange behavior.
The second movie had just finished when Callie turned to look at her friend. “How are you and Dylan doing?” There was a visible flinch from her friend, which made Callie straighten. “Is everything okay?”
One look at Aspen’s face and she knew it wasn’t. God, she’d been going on about her own problems all night and hadn’t even realized Aspen had some of her own. Terrible. She was a terrible friend.
“Aspen, what is it?”
Her friend shook her head. “You’re going through—”
“We’ve talked about my problems, now I want to talk about yours.”
A heavy beat of silence passed. “We broke up.”
Callie gasped. “Oh my God, what happened?”
“Nothing. We just…we had a fight the night of the party, and I broke up with him.”
“The night of the party?” That was two nights ago. God, she felt like an ass. “What was the fight about?”
“Dylan…” She stopped and shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it right now. Not while you’re in the middle of something so heavy.”
“Aspen—”
“I’m fine. Dylan and I were never a great match, and it just took me a while to realize that.”
“Still, you dated him for months. Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
Aspen laughed, but the sound was all wrong. “No. I definitely do not. But Idowant to go to bed because I’m exhausted.” She leaned over and kissed Callie on the cheek. “I hope you feel a bit better. And remember, I’m fine. Better than fine, actually, because I’m a single pringle again. Have a good night.”
Her friend rose and headed to her room. Callie wanted to stop her. To ask a gazillion questions. But Aspen was an open book until there was something she didn’t want to talk about, and then she closed up tight.
Maybe she just needed a bit of time to process.
With a sigh, Callie cleaned up their mess and went to her room. She was about to climb into bed when her phone vibrated with a text. Her pulse picked up speed when she saw who it was.
Lock: Can I see you tomorrow?
She bit down on her bottom lip, Aspen’s words flicking back into her mind.
You might get everything you’ve ever wanted.
And shedidwant Lock. Even though she’d been fighting it. Even though their past was a mess. She loved him. Despite everything, that had never changed.
