I laugh weakly. "It is when the person doesn't deserve it. I feel so stupid for not seeing it sooner."
"You're not stupid. She's manipulative."
I lean against him, exhausted from the emotional whiplash. "How did you know she was lying?"
"I've never had a conversation with her beyond saying no when she asks for things. I didn't even know her name before this morning." His arm comes around me, solid and warm. "And I saw your face. You looked destroyed. I knew something was wrong."
"So you really didn't say any of that stuff? About it just being physical?"
Alex hooks a finger under my chin to tilt my face up to his. "No. I don't know what this is yet, but it's not just physical. I don't do ‘just physical’."
The words settle something in my chest, a worry I didn't even know was there.
"Good. Because I don't either. Thank you for coming over. For telling me the truth."
"Always."
We sit in comfortable silence for a while. Croissant eventually jumps on my lap, purring loudly as he settles in.
I stroke Croissant's fur. "I can't believe I let her make me feel so small for so long."
"You didn't let her," Alex says. "She worked hard to make you doubt yourself. But you saw through it in the end."
"Only because you showed me what it feels like when someone actually cares about me." I look up at him. "When someone sees me, really sees me, as enough."
His expression softens in a way I'm still getting used to, like he's allowing himself to be vulnerable only with me.
"You are enough," he says. "Always were. Always will be."
I smile, feeling lighter despite everything. "So, what now?"
"Now you block her number," he says. "And we figure out what this is between us."
"In that order?"
"In that order."
I pull out my phone and navigate to my contacts, finding Selena's name. My thumb hovers over the block button for just a second before pressing it decisively.
It feels final. I'm closing a door on a chapter of my life where I accepted less than I deserved.
"Done," I say, setting my phone aside.
For the first time in a long while, I believe I deserve good things and good people, just like Alex.
Funny how so much can change in so little time.
6
ALEX
I've spent the last fifteen minutes watching Emily stroke Croissant while we sit on her couch, her thigh pressed against mine. The shock of confronting Selena is fading, but the adrenaline hasn't left my system. It's crackling through me like live wire, making my skin too tight, my senses too sharp.
When she blocked Selena's number, something in my chest loosened and tightened at the same time. Pride in her strength. Relief that the manipulation was over. And something darker, more possessive—satisfaction at watching her cut ties with someone who tried to come between us.
Now Emily's quiet, tracing the outline of the tattoo on my forearm with one finger. Her touch is light, almost absentminded, but it's lighting up every nerve ending in my body.
I haven't moved since we sat down. The restraint is physical—a tightness in my jaw, tension in my shoulders, the deliberate way I'm keeping my hands on my own thighs instead of on her.
