We weren’t broken because we didn’t love each other. We were broken because we never loved each other the way we needed to. At least not in the way that lasts and especially not when part of my heart has been somewhere else.
Thinking this feels like admitting I’ve been running a losing play for years.
But you can’t fix a problem you won’t name.
My phone buzzes on the coffee table, making me jump. I glance at the screen.
Text from Ethan:
Ethan: You need anything?
I stare at it for a second, thumbs hovering. There are a hundred things I could say.
Yeah, I need you to tell me I’m not the worst person alive.
I need a drink.
I need to rewind the last few years and make different calls.
I need to stop thinking about someone I shouldn’t every time I close my eyes.
Instead, I type:
Me: I’m good. Just tired.
Three dots appear. Disappear. Then:
Ethan: Bullshit. I’ll check in tomorrow.
A small huff of air pushes out of me that might almost be a laugh.
I set the phone back down and let my gaze drift to the window. The sun’s lower now, turning the driveway gold. The spot where Griff’s truck was parked is just concrete again.
Sierra’s gone.
What she left me with is the truth.
The truth that she deserves a clean start.
The truth that I need to stop lying to myself about the past and what it still means to me.
The truth that walking a straight line doesn’t matter if your heart is facing the wrong direction the whole time.
I push to my feet one more time, moving because sitting still feels too much like drowning.
In the entryway, there’s a small scrap of paper on the table by the door. I almost miss it. It’s tucked under my keys.
I pick it up.
It’s from the same pad as the note on the fridge. Same handwriting.
Don’t forget:
You’re allowed to figure it out. – S
I stare at it until the words blur.
I don’t know when she wrote this. I don’t remember seeing it before. Maybe she left it for me on purpose today. Maybe it fell out of something else and landed here by accident.
