ALEX
“So, you two broke up?”Nick stared at me with a blank expression.
Maddox sat beside him; his lips were set in a flat line. I could see that neither man approved of my current relationship status.
It had been two days since Sadie told me that it was over and I left the hospital. Since then, I’d been walking around in a fog. I’d been on autopilot.
I’d driven by her apartment more times than I could count. I’d picked up the phone to call her at least a hundred times every day. I stalked her social media to see if she posted any updates. But all had been quiet on her Instagram and TikTok pages.
My body ached for her in a bone deep way. I was in physical pain. I was exhausted. I was nauseous. I’d had a doctor come to the office yesterday because I was convinced I had the flu, but it turned out that physically nothing was wrong with me. All of my symptoms were psychological.
“How are my favorite single dad CEOs today?” Gloria asked as she approached our table. “Or I guess, maybe not so single now that this one is hooked up with bakery hottie!”
“You don’t need to change the name,” I stated flatly.
“Really? I saw the way you were lookin’ at her when you brought her in. I was expecting an invite to the wedding soon.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I snapped and saw her wince.
I knew I was being an asshole. I wasn’t trying to be. The topic of Sadie felt like an open wound that people kept pouring salt on.
Gloria quickly recovered and put a smile on her face. “Well, what can I get you boys today?”
We all put in our orders and as soon as Gloria left, Maddox took a deep breath. I knew that breath. He took it every time he needed to have a conversation I wasn’t going to like.
“So let me get this straight. Sadie got attacked, is in the hospital, and you broke up with her?”
“Actually, she broke up with me.”
“What did you do?” Nick and Maddox chorused.
I stared at my friends. It was the same question that Charli had asked me. And when I told Lexi that Sadie and I weren’t girlfriend and boyfriend anymore, it was the same thing she’d asked me.
Why had everyone assumed that I was the person who’d fucked up?
Because she’s an angel sent from heaven, a small voice in the back of my head piped up. The voice that sounded a lot like Ash was right. Whether it was Ash or not it was right. Sadie was an angel. The problem wasn’t Sadie, it was me. I was just too fucked up to be with an angel.
“I didn’t do anything. She just…knows me. She saw that I was upset and said that she knew something had changed.”
“What does that mean? Was she right?” Maddox emphasized. “Had something changed?”
I exhaled and stared down at my hands which were folded together resting on the tabletop.
“You were going to break up with her, weren’t you?” Maddox’s voice was laced with disappointment and disbelief.
I didn’t reply, but my silence spoke volumes.
“So, basically, she got hurt. You freaked out. She noticed it and let you off the hook,” Maddox summed up accurately.
My chin dipped in a sharp nod.
“That’s fucked up.” Nick’s summation was not nearly as nuanced but no less accurate.
“I’m done talking about this,” I said with a sharp finality that left no room for argument. If they wanted to continue this conversation, they could do it without me.
Thankfully, they must have sensed that I was serious. Instead of pushing further into the subject, they mercifully dropped it.
The conversation moved on to Maddox’s twenty-year high school reunion and whether or not he planned on attending. And that Nick had decided to start a podcast with Selena Grace about dating and relationships.
