“No. Those apologies sucked,” he shook his head, running a hand through his thick hair. “I wasn’t myself, Sadie. And I’m so sorry.”
“Who were you?”
“What?”
“If you were someone else, who were you?” I folded my arms over my chest.
He looked pensive. “I was messed up. The instant fame went to my head, and I handled it horribly. You were a casualty of all of that. I regret it more than you’ll ever know.”
He seemed sincere. The problem was that I just didn’t give a shit. “I’m glad you’ve done some soul searching and figured things out.”
“Well, I’m in therapy.”
My eyes widened. I hadn’t expected to hear that. “That’s… really great. Good for you.” I gave him a small smile. “I had to go to therapy after what happened, too. It helped me tremendously.”
His face fell, and he looked at his feet. “I’m sorry you had to go because of me.”
“It wasn’tjustyou. But you were a large part of it.”
His eyes came back up to mine, and I was brutally reminded of how attractive he was. I looked away and cleared my throat. “I’m glad you’re coming to terms with how you changed during that time. Now it’s time for you to go.”
“Wait. Is that it? Do you think we could… at least be friends?”
“The truth is that I don’t like you enough to want you as a friend. What you did ruined my opinion of you.”
He stepped back like I’d hit him. “Do you still hate me, then?”
“Yes.” Therapy had taught me it was okay to be blunt. I didn’t have to please everyone. It wasn’t my job to make sure everyone around me was happy at the expense of my own mental health. “I’m working towards getting over that because hate and holding a grudge against you will only hurt me in the long run, not you. I know that. I want to forgive you one day, Harrison. But I never want to be friends with you again.”
He nodded, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “I understand. I… I won’t bother you again. Take care, Sadie. I hope you have a beautiful life.”
“Thank you,” I said and turned to walk inside.
I felt his eyes on me the whole way.
PART TWO
Now
(FIVE YEARS LATER)
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sadie
“Of course I’m fine,” I laughed shooing my family out of my house. I stood in the doorway and waved as they got in their cars, ready to make the trek to their own houses or apartments. My brother Tim had the furthest to go. He lived a whopping twelve miles away. My parents had the shortest distance since we were basically next door neighbors, and my two sisters lived somewhere in between.
I closed the door as I saw the last set of headlights exit the driveway.
“Oh my God, I am so not fine.” I leaned my back against the door and slid down until I was sitting on the floor. I’d hosted family game night on purpose to try and get my mind off Melinda and Drake’s engagement party. It was tomorrow night.
Hewas going to be there.
God, I hated myself for still having such a mixed bag of feelings about him. And I wished I could just let it all go and that none of it would matter to me anymore.
But it did.
I sighed and got off the floor. I spent some time cleaning up from game night before taking a shower, getting ready for bed, and tucking myself under the covers. I’d taken some melatonin in case I had any trouble going to sleep.
