“You mean findme.”
Warmth rushes to my cheeks, and I hope she can’t see it. Okay, yes, I did come back to the hotel hoping to run into her, but I stoppedbefore going inside because I realized that would have been creepy. Then I immediately went to the same coffee place as her by accident.
“Well . . . yeah.” Why did I say that? “I was hoping to run into you, but I swear I wasn’t stalking you or anything.”
“That’s what stalkers always say.” She smirks behind her mug, easing my worries about her being weirded out by me. “I’m glad you found me.”
Like always, she pulls me back in as if she’s known me for years. If I’m an awkward people-pleasing clinger, she’s either my babysitter or my guardian angel. Maybe both.
“Did you find a flight yet?” I ask.
“No. I came here to look but got sidetracked.”
“By me?”
Her chuckle sounds like she’s hiding a yes. “No, my best friend. She’s married toDavid’sbest friend.”
“Oh, shit. Did either of them know what he was doing?”
“For the sake of her safety and my lack of desire to have a criminal record, I’m going to believe her when she said she didn’t.”
Nothing fazes her. I’ve been in shambles for two days, and she’s here grinning and not hating the world and everyone in it. “How are you so optimistic about everything?”
“Am I optimistic or am I patiently waiting for a meteor to release me from the pressures of society and capitalism?”
I snort out a laugh. “That’s still optimism.”
“I’m happy you’re back.” She loops her arm through mine and leans her head onto my shoulder. “I missed my breakup buddy.”
Bri is touchy. Reaching for me like a brace when she’s nervous, gripping me in some way when she wants her words to sink in, wanting a hug—that intimate chest-to-chest contact—when she suspects my heart is aching. I’ve never been around touchy-feely people, but with her, it’s comfortable, never making me flinch or want to shyaway. I’m not sure she knows she does it at all. She uses touch in a positive, anxiety-soothing way that is new to me. I like it. A lot.
“I missed you too,” I embarrassingly admit.
She leans up from my shoulder. “Yeah, I know. That’s why you’re stalking me.”
“I’m not—”
She tucks her phone away in her bag and stands. “We should go to the park or something. Get some sun before you go back to the airport. You can leave your luggage in my room.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
At this point, she could’ve invited me to swim in the sewer with her and I would have said yes.
~
Central Park is cool, I guess. The weather is still nice, sun shining, couples out enjoying their weekend.Couples. Ugh.
I sit on a stone ledge beside the stairs, waiting for Bri to fetch us some ice cream from a cart she spotted on the way here. We’ve been walking around for a few hours now, seeing the sights, so it’s snack time in her opinion. I’m never going to turn down food, but in her brief absence, all the reasons to smile went with her, and my gloom festers in the shade of the tree above me.
I want answers. I want areason. I want to know why I couldn’t be the man Natalie wanted. Why a year ago we were making heavy life decisions together, and now she doesn’t want me to be part of her future at all.
Tears sting at my eyes and nose, annoying me to no end.Where the fuck is—
“Vanilla!” Bri holds the cone of soft serve in front of my face, some of it already melting onto her finger. Her smile beams as brightas the sunshine, chasing my melancholy back into the shadows again.
“Thank you.”
