Willow dismissed the notion with the flick of her hand. “Doesn’tthe spark die after there’s a ring?That’swhyIalways end my books with an engagement.It’sall downhill from there.Mightas well end it on a high note.”
IfIthoughtIwas disillusioned with the idea of relationships, my feelings were nothing compared toWillow’s.Inthe blink of an eye, she had gone from the most eligible bachelorette to locking her romance dreams in a steel vault and throwing away the key.Iwonder what had happened . . .
Whitney brought us all back to the present. “Ifmy opinion counts for anything,Ithink you should take it day by day.Heartbreakis just a part of life.Ifyou already know you’re going to leave at the end of the summer, what’s the harm of really, truly enjoying your current situation to the fullest?”
“BecauseIdon’t want to hurt him,”Iadmitted. “Jack. . .Helost someone he was close to.Andbecause of his job, he’s scared it’ll happen again.”
Willow softened. “That’san awful way to live.”
“I can’t twist that knife.Ican’t live with the guilt of making him believe he can have something when neither of us can commit.It’snot fair.Thiswas just sex.Anythingelse would be a disservice to us both.”
“But what if it wasn’t just sex?”Whitneyasked. “Ithink you’re selling yourself short if you think that it was just about the ease of access to orgasms.Yourhot water heater broke, and you ran to him.Because, even though you two had just gotten into a disagreement, you knew he’d open the door.That’snot nothing,Aurora.”
It was rare that we used our government names.Inever calledWhitney“Annie.”
That’s howIknew she was serious.
I let out a sigh. “Ijust don’t know.I?—”
A knock at the door cut me off.
21
JACK
THE COUNCIL OF GIRLFRIENDS
Iglanced at the bedside clock to check the time, then rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling fan.
The space beside me was cold.Thepillow next to mine still had a divot from her head.
And fuck . . .Imissed her already.
Aurora had snuck out as soon as dawn broke.Atfirst,Ithought she was getting up to go to the bathroom and would come back.We’dhave a lazy morning in bed,I’dmake her breakfast, and we’d head over to her place to get a little work done on my day off.
But she left.
The slam of the front door might as well have been a slap in the face.
I choked down the bile that pooled in my throat and rolled to my side.Whatever.
My ire immediately dissipated whenIcaught a whiff of her on her pillow.Ihuffed and stacked it on top of my pillow.Maybeit was the small hitIneeded to start detoxing from her.
I curled my arm around it and?—
What was that?
I reached under the pillow and foundAurora’sphone.Itwas blowing up with message after message.Sinceit was locked,Icouldn’t see what the texts said, just the bubble notifications.Itcould have been her mom.Maybesomething was wrong.
Fuck it.
I tossed the covers back, pulled on a pair of shorts, and padded to the bathroom to brush my teeth.
I tried not to breathe whileIwas in there.Eventhe air was laced with her.
I didn’t bother with a shirt beforeIslipped out the door with her phone in my hand.Ithad stopped buzzing every millisecond, but the screen was still littered with messages.
There was a strange dent in the hedge that was somewhat author-shaped.
