Oliver nods solemnly with a small eye roll. “He’s worried about you. Could you just call him back already? Otherwise, he’ll be banging down the door.”
I sigh and nod with a contempt smile. Oliver closes the door behind him and leaves me to my own devices. I weigh my options. I could very well ignore Oliver and continue studying, or I could pick up the phone and get this inevitable conversation out of the way.
Fuck.
I press the phone to my ear as it rings.
“Hayley?”
“Hey, Corbin.”
“I’m sorry for bugging you, and your brother, but you just dropped off of the face of the earth.”
“Sorry, I just needed some space.”
“I know. I promise, I’ve tried to give you that, but I’m so used to seeing you, talking to you. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.” God, it’s so nice to hear his voice. I didn’t realize how much you could miss hearing someone’s voice until this moment.
I pause as I try to gather my courage. I’ve had this conversation so many times in my head, but now that the moment has come, the words are almost lost on me. “Kyle was right, about what he said. I should have never put you in this position. It was selfish of me to ever risk your friendship with him.”
“That’s not true at all. We can’t help how we feel; it wasn’t his place to say anything.”
“We can, and we should’ve put a bit more thought into it than we did.”
“I don’t like the sound of this. I don’t like the sound of any of this,” he exclaims. I hear a rustling in the background and can imagine him pacing anxiously. “Don’t tell me you’re saying what I think you’re saying?”
“I can’t, because I am. Corbin, we both knew this was a bad idea from the start.”
“But the risk has been worth the reward.”
“We need to be serious about this. If we don’t end this now, the damage might be irreversible. For the time being, I think we need to keep our distance. I’m sorry, Corbin.”
“But…”
When he can’t find the words for his next rebuttal, I do. “Goodbye, Corbin.”
I’m the one to hang up, but I can’t help staring at the phone for ages afterward. I’m hoping that I’ve made the right call.
“You okay?” I jump at hearing Oliver’s voice through the door.
I pull the door open with a raised eyebrow, “have you been listening to my private conversation?”
“Yeah, so?”
I sigh because I can’t even find it in me to be upset with him. Arms wrap around my shoulders and while the comfort is nice, it’s also the strike that breaks my back. A single tear slides down my cheek as I squeeze my eyes tight shut.
“I’m sorry, Hales.”
Yeah, me too.
12
Corbin
“Are they still not talking?” Zack asks as he enters the room. The air is tense. As long as Kyle keeps shutting Hayley out, I’ll do the same. I know it’s causing issues in the house, but I couldn’t care less.
“Nope,” Travis responds, barely looking up from his phone for more than five seconds.
