Our building was a ten-minute walk away, but I made it back in five. I was sweating through my T-shirt from sprinting through the campus by the time I got inside our two-bedroom apartment. Zoey stood in the kitchen with a tumbler in one hand, which I knew was filled with iced coffee. She raised a brow at my appearance.
“Did someone chase you home or something?” she asked before taking a sip through the straw.
I was too out of breath to respond for a few moments. “Jamie texted me.”
Her eyes widened as she placed the tumbler down on the kitchen island. “Come again? Jamie? Jamie who? NottheJamie I’m thinking of, right? Enemy number one?”
I nodded frantically and slid my phone across the counter to her. “Here. Read.”
Zoey’s forehead scrunched as she read the message I’d nearly memorized by now. She knew of my suffering firsthand, having nursed me back to life after the heartbreak of that summer. I’d returned to her and Sophie in pieces, telling them I would never fall in love again. Sophie had consoled me as much as she could in the days before she’d moved to France to attend Paris School of Business, but Zoey had to deal with me for much longer. I knew she would grasp the full significance of this text.
When she finished reading, she placed my phone down, and I snatched it back.
“What are you going to do?” she asked calmly.
“I don’t know. I’m leaning toward ignoring it. Does the guy really deserve a response?”
“That’s pretty cold, Ivy.”
I started to chew on my nail. “Is it? For all I know, he could be lying about getting clean. The guy’s a known liar after all.”
Zoey cocked a brow. “Why would he lie about that?”
“I don’t know, just to fuck with me? I mean, why is he reaching out in the first place? Why now?” I said, flinging my hands up.
“If he’s in a twelve-step program, one of the steps is making amends.”
“Well, I don’t want his amends. Whatever guilt he feels for what he did to Oliver and me is well-deserved.”
“You told me he tried to warn you,” Zoey said, crossing her arms at her chest.
“Warn me? He tried toturn meagainst Oliver by slandering him,” I corrected her.
“Why would he want to do that?”
“How the hell should I know? Their relationship was already on the rocks by then, so maybe he just wanted to hurt Oliver.”
“Or maybe he had good intentions and you’re missing some pieces of the puzzle.”
I gave her a startled look. “Seriously? Have you forgotten everything I told you about Jamie? He’s not someone who deserves the benefit of the doubt.”
“Trust me, I remember perfectly,” she deadpanned. “You must have narrated the events of that tour to me in painful detail more than a dozen times. I still think you should hear him out.”
“Why?” I asked, my tone incredulous.
“For one, if he’s genuinely trying to better himself, and the apology is part of his process, wouldn’t you want to help him in this small way?”
“I don’t owe him anything,” I insisted. “By all accounts, he’s an awful, selfish person.”
“Well, then do this for selfish reasons. I think seeing him might help you move on.”
My hands dropped to my sides. “Move on from what?”
Zoey pursed her lips. “Don’t play stupid, Ivy. I know you’ve been trying to get over Oliver in your own way, but it’s not working. That tour still has its claws buried deep inside of you.”
I forced myself to hold her gaze, despite feeling my cheeks heat. “We’ve been over this. I’m handling things, and even if I wasn’t, I really don’t see how meeting with Jamie would help.”
“Maybe hearing his side of the story will give you a new perspective on what happened. You’ve haven’t stopped blaming yourself for how things ended, and it’s hurting you.”
