Movements synchronized, Kennedy and I glance at my phone, which is lying face down on the table next to Sophie’s now-forgotten plate of eggs and bacon. I don’t bother checking the display. I already know it’s the same person who’s been trying to reach me since early this morning.
“Answer it.” Kennedy groans and drapes herself over the table, barely avoiding dipping her hair in syrup. “This is, like, the eightieth time he’s called.”
It’s only the fourth, but I don’t correct her. Stabbing a piece of turkey bacon with my fork, I narrow my eyes at her. “You’re the one who tells me that it’s rude to be on my phone at the breakfast table.”
“Well, it’s also rude to make my hangover worse by letting your phone continuously vibrate,” she argues. “So answer the damn thing and put the poor guy out of his misery.”
“I wouldn’t usemiseryto describe Cole’s situation,” I grumble.
He certainly didn’t look miserable when Roni was sprawled on his lap with her hands on his cheeks as they rang in the New Year with the kiss to end all kisses.
Every time I close my eyes, I see the image, like it’s burned into my retinas, and wonder how it compared to our Kiss.
“The guy’s reading an alien romance for you.” Straightening, Kennedy rolls her eyes and hits me with a look that would make a grown man’s balls shrivel up and hide in his stomach. “You’re obviously punishing him.”
“No, I’m not,” I snap as my phone stops vibrating. “He can do whatever he wants with whomever he wants.”
“Really? You’re going to tell me that the smooch he shared with Roni Carlyleisn’tthe reason you’ve been glaring at your pancakes like they’ve personally offended you?” She lifts an imperious brow. “Yeah, no, I’m not buying into that brand of bullshit, babe. You like Cole, but you don’t want to like Cole, because liking him means you’re opening yourself up to getting hurt. And you’ve been hurt by those you should’ve been able to trust way too many times.”
“Aren’t you too hungover to be seeing right through me?”
My phone buzzes again. Make that five phone calls this morning.
Kennedy’s face softens. “Aren’t you tired of fighting your feelings for him? Answer the phone, Maya.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
“And don’t be a bitch,” she calls after me as I slide out of the booth to take the call in private.
It has to happen at some point, so why not now? As much as I’d love to be petty and ignore him forever, that’s not fair to either of us.
I step out into the vestibule, where the noise is muted considerably, and answer the call. At least here, Kennedy can’t eavesdrop.
“Maya.” The relief in Cole’s tone fills me with guilt over not answering. Then I remember the image of him with another woman draped all over his ripped body and that guilt flies out the window and boards a bus to Guadalajara.
“Hey,” I greet simply, choking back the anger that’s been brewing in me since I woke up this morning. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been calling.”
“I’ve been at breakfast.”
Oof. So much for not being snappy.
Cole chuckles at my sassy response. “Anywhere good?”
“It’s a twenty-four-hour-diner around the corner from me. Your trainer would have a hemorrhage the second he stepped into the place, considering the amount of oil in their eggs would put eighteenth-century lamplighters to shame.”
“I’m sure it’s great.” He laughs, the throaty sound making my guilt second-guess its decision. “Listen, there’s a photo of me and some girl?—”
“Woman,” I correct. My tone is laced with bitterness. I hate it, but it’s woven through me thoroughly by now, making it impossible to hide. “You can’t refer to the woman with the most liked ass on Instagram as a girl, Cole.”
“So you’ve seen the photos.” There’s far less humor in his tone now.
Heat pricks at the backs of my eyes, but I banish the sensation. “Of you playing tonsil hockey? Mm-hmm.”
“Nothing happened,” he urges. “I mean she kissed me, but I didn’t kiss her back,” he amends. “It looks bad, but she launched herself at me like a fucking spider monkey to get a New Year’s kiss. I pushed her away immediately and?—”
Not wanting to hear the details, I put the kibosh on his explanation. “It’s fine, Cole.”
