"Hey, no tomatoes, no dinner. It’s serious." I smile quickly and start swimming toward the shore. "I’ll text him real quick. Be right back."
She waves me off. "Fine. I’ll just float here and try not to drown."
I pull away and head for the shore. The sand sticks to my feet.
I find my phone in the side pocket of my bag, dry my fingers on the towel, and open it to text Jin.
ME:
-Don’t forget tomatoes. You forget, we starve again.
I drop the phone on the towel and turn back toward the water, and then I notice something.
Sophia’s phone is lit up.
Sitting right there.
Screen glowing from a recent message.
God. I hate myself. I don’t want to bethatguy.
The suspicious boyfriend. The paranoid one. I’m not built like that.
I don’twantto be built like that.
But my brain? My traitor of a brain?
Check it.
Check it.
Check it.
I clench my jaw hard.
I force my eyes away, only to accidentally look back. I don’t want to look. But my hand moves before I can stop it. Something about tonight, about how perfect it feels, feels off.
Like maybe it isn’t mine to hold onto.
Like maybe Gio’s voice in the back of my head is more than just noise.
I pick up the phone. My heart starts beating faster. It’s not about trust. Or maybe it is.
But the truth is, I need to know.
I need to be sure Gio is wrong. That he’s messing with me.
That Sophia is all in, like I’m trying to be. Because what if he isn’t? What if I’m smiling in the water, letting her play with my hair, laughing like an idiot… and it’s all a lie?
I stare at the screen. My thumb hovers.
And then, against every promise I’ve ever made to myself, I open her messages.
15) We’re Done
Rava
I don’t even realize I’m holding my breath. …
