The message delivered. The read receipt appeared. He wiped the sweat from his jaw, then typed again.Oh and as you can tell this thing between us is over
The reply came desperate.Why??
His thumb hovered over the screen. The truth was simple. Everything he had done last night had been for Ody, not for her. And dragging her into this mess any further didn’t make sense.Because we did this to keep him away from you. After everything that happened there’s no point anymore
You can’t be serious…
He didn’t sugarcoat the ending.Don’t contact me again.He tossed his phone aside. Ending things with Stella should have felt final, clean. It didn’t.
The weight of the day pressed down on him as he left the gym and headed home. By the time he picked up his flute, the knots in his chest still hadn’t loosened.
Ody, on the other hand, walked into his apartment with a smile from the basketball court still on his face. After a quick shower, an idea lit up his thoughts. He grabbed his phone and called Mano.
“Yeah?”
“Hey. You back from the gym?”
“Yeah.”
“Have you eaten?”
“A protein bar. Why?”
“I haven’t eaten, and I thought maybe we could grab a burger, pizza… whatever you like.”
“That’s very healthy,” Mano teased, hearing Ody laugh through the line.
“We could go for sushi. You like sushi?” Ody said, full of energy.
“Yeah.”
“I know a great place. You in?”
“Actually, I was practicing the flute and planned to—”
“Come on, don’t ditch me twice. That would crush me,” Ody joked. “Look, I get it if you don’t want to be around eight people, but it’s just the two of us. No awkward questions. Just food. Promise.”
Mano hesitated.
“Well? Come on, say yes. Say yes because now I’m craving sushi. Ineedsushi,” Ody insisted, dramatic and enthusiastic.
“Fine.”
“Awesome! I’ll drive over.”
“Wait, what time?”
“I’m leaving now! I’m starving.” Ody’s excitement made Mano smile. “Be there soon. Later!” He hung up.
Mano put his flute away and changed into black cargo pants and a black T-shirt. Ody went for blue jeans and a beige T-shirt.
Mano got in the passenger seat, and Ody greeted him with a warm smile.
As he drove, Ody’s eyes drifted to the tattoo on Mano’s left arm. He glanced once, then found himself looking again.
“What are you staring at?” Mano asked.
“Your tattoos. I saw them the first time we met, but I didn’t get a good look. This one… it’s a forest, right?”
