Brody’s frown morphs into a glare as he stares at Nick. I think back to the one time that he and Nick met. It was during a joint birthday party for Anna and Nick sophomore year. Brody didn’t like how cocky and outgoing Nick was. He thought he was immature and loud, too.
“I thought you didn’t like him,” Brody says.
“I like him more than you right now.”
Brody exhales sharply and frowns at me. “There’s no need for snarky comments like that, Poppy.”
“There’s also no need for you to bombard me with texts after I broke up with you for sexting another woman behind my back, but here we are.”
He leans back, clearly shocked by the bite in my words.
He runs a hand through his short blond hair. “I just wanted to talk to you. I’d like my laptop bag back. I think I left it at your apartment last semester.”
I stare at him. “That’s what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“No. There’s something else.”
He hesitates, and for a split second, I’m hopeful. He’s going to apologize for the way he treated me, I’ll get the closure I’ve wanted, and then I can stop feeling like a failure and move on.
“You know that internship at Hulston, Powers, and Dwyer?”
I frown, confused. “Yeah?”
“I got it.”
That sucker punch feeling lands in my gut once more. “What?”
“I got the internship,” he says. He’s not smiling, but I can spot the glee in his blue eyes. He can barely contain his excitement.
“I just wanted to tell you thanks.”
I gawk at him. “For what?”
“For all those times you studied with me when we dated. All those times you helped me with my homework and projects.I think all that work you put into me helped me get that internship.”
“What?” I sound like a broken record. But I can’t help it. I can’t find any other words to describe how stunned I feel. And stupid. Very, very stupid.
All those times I stayed up late to help him study for exams. All those times I helped him write essays and research papers. I was giving him a leg-up over me.
I gave my cheating ex-boyfriend an advantage over me, which helped him get the internship I wanted more than anything.
A sick feeling bubbles up in my chest.
He lets out a surprised chuckle, shaking his head. “I honestly can’t believe it. I thought for sure you’d get it.”
I grit my teeth, the urge to tell him to fuck off hitting hard. I hold back and take a long sip of my coffee.
“You must have been slacking, huh?” He chuckles. When I don’t say anything, his smile fades, and he clears his throat. “I was joking.”
A weird sensation courses through me. It’s determination and something else. A second later, it hits me.
I want to be petty. Really, really petty.
I glance over at Nick, who’s looking down at his phone as he sips his coffee. The most delicious lie sparks on the tip of my tongue.
I smile at Brody and laugh. “You’re right. I was slacking a bit, and that’s probably why I didn’t get the internship. Too busy hooking up with Nick. Everything else kind of fell by the wayside ever since we got together.”
Brody’s jaw plummets to the floor. His eyes look like they’re about to pop out of his head.
