Yeah?
What I really wanted to ask wasthenwhy? Why hadn’t he broken up with him? Why had he stopped texting before? Why had he stayed away? But I didn’t. I waited.
Creep
I never stopped it’s just more obvious now
My treacherous heart skipped.
Creep
we should probably figure out how to be friends
you and I
That made me grin as I sank back against the pillows, my chest warm and my thoughts dangerously close to places they shouldn’t go.
Me
sure thing ash
why don’t we practice sometime?
I’ll have my apartment next week
Fine. Maybe the teasing was uncalled for. Childish, even. I knew better than to goad any man in a relationship. But this wasn’tanyman. This was Sebastian.
Just a little jest betweenfriends, right?
And where did he get off being in a fucking relationship, anyway?
Creep
I knew you were going to be like this.
Me
like what Ash?
A new notification popped up on my screen—an email from the bank.
I sat up and opened it, my eyes skimming the words, trying to make sense of them. Until they landed on a line that was impossible to misinterpret.
Total balance: $0.00
Empty. It was fucking empty.
For a second, everything went quiet. No sound, no breath—just the rush of blood in my ears. My pulse thudded so hard it hurt.
The phone buzzed again, cutting through the silence.
Creep
like fucking fire
My heart soared and sank all at once.
Because this image I’d been building for years—the version of myself I wanted to show him—was a fucking lie. He wouldn’t think that about me if he knew just how much of a pushover I really was.
