I played dumb. “When?”
“Why won’t you just fuckin’ tell me what I did so we can move through this?” he asked. “You were my best friend, then all of a sudden—”
“Were.”
“Excuse me?”
“Wewerebest friends. We’re not anymore, Flash. And I’m okay with that. I just need you to be as well.”
“Well, that’s never gonna fuckin’ happen, Tate, so get that out of your head.”
“I get to choose who my friends are, so you have no say over it.”
He dragged his hands through his hair. “Just tell me what I did.”
“No.”
He smirked. “Okay, so I did dosomething.”
Shit.
“It was nothing.” I waved my hand dismissively. “It was high school. I’m over it.”
“Clearly, you’re not, or this asinine conversation wouldn’t be happening.”
“Flash are you staying for dinner?” Mom called from the kitchen, giving me a much-needed distraction. “Zach’ll be home any minute.”
“No, Mom, he’s leaving now,” I called back, then focused back on Flash. “You should go before my dad gets home.”
“I’m not afraid of your dad, Tate.”
“I never said you should be.”
He sighed. “I’ll let you run away for now, but you’re on notice that I want my friend back, so we need to resolve this.”
I shrugged. “There’s nothing to resolve.”
His hand reached out faster than I could dodge, and he gripped my chin gently. “I’m gonna figure this out, Tate. I’ll fix whatever I broke.”
“There’s nothing to fix,” I whispered.
And there wasn’t. He’d broken me into more pieces than he’d ever be able to put back together, so we were done.
“We’ll see,” he said, ominously and walked out my front door.
Fuck me, now I wanted sexanda cinnamon roll.
“Mom, I’ll be in my room,” I said, not waiting for a response, as I ran up the stairs and closed myself into my bedroom.
Before I’d made it to my bed, my door opened and my sister, Hayden, walked in, locking the door behind her. “Was that Flash Wallace?” she whispered.
I nodded, unzipping my boots, and setting them in my closet.
“Did you tell him?”
“No,” I growled. “And I’m not going to. Neither are you.”
She raised her hands in surrender. “I know. Sisters before misters.”
