My heart sank. “I didn’t think it was the right time.”
“You didn’t think at all.” She talked over me. “My brother can’t commit to shit for longer than a few weeks at a time, and I know you’re dying to bounce back from Dave with any guy, but Tyler should’ve never been an option. He hasn’t even finished college!”
I bit my tongue. Now wasn’t the time to reveal what he’d been doing with his life.
“You’re like a fucking sister to me, Harlow.” Tears fell down her face. “This is pretty much incest.”
“Chelsea …”
“No.” Her face reddened. “Fuck no. Don’t you dare say anything right now except, ‘I’m sorry.’”
I shook my head. “I’m not sorry.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry for hiding it from you,” I said. “But I do like Tyler. A lot.”
“Tyler is just your rebound guy, Harlow. Just the first guy you screwed after Dave, a guy you’ll forget once you meet the next one.”
“If you would let me explain, I promise you it’s a lot more than that.” I didn’t think revealing the dorm room kiss was appropriate at the moment, but if it would help her see things my way, I was willing to do so. “I know it’s fast, but I think I’m really falling for him, Chelsea. It’s easy and simple, and—”
“Oh, God.” She let out an angry laugh, wiping tears from her eyes. “So, is dating my brother and potentially hurting him—because you will hurt him when this doesn’t work out and you know it—worth losing our friendship over?”
“What? What are you saying?”
“You’ve always been the smartest person I know,” she said. “You know exactly what I’m saying.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “Chelsea, hear me out.”
“For my bachelorette party, I need you to leave ten seconds after you show your face.” She ignored my request. “I want to enjoy the weekend with the people in my life who don’t blatantly lie to me, and I don’t need people sensing how much I hate you right now.”
“Chelsea, please.”
“Please, what? If I was dating someone in your family—Oh, wait. I would never do that, even if I had the opportunity, because it crosses a line.”
I walked toward her, attempting to hug her and get her to calm down, but she opened the door.
“Don’t call or text me.” She slammed it so hard my windows shook.
Before I could slump down onto my sofa, Chelsea knocked on the door again.
I hesitated before opening it. “Yes?”
“Quick question,” she said, her voice cracking. “The night when you stepped outside my place for car sex, the same day that you waxed poetic about the nice guy at the resort who gave you that massage…It was all a lie, wasn’t it?”
I stared at the tears streaming down her face, unable to say a word.
“Answer me.”
“Yes. It was all a lie.”
“So much for always telling me everything, right?” She shook her head and stormed down the steps.
It All Ends
Harlow
The doorman at Tyler’s condo handed me a handkerchief the moment I stepped out of the cab. He didn’t speak or ask why I wasn’t entering via the other entrance. Didn’t even utter a random movie quote and wait for me to guess the answer.
It’s almost like he knows why I’m here…
I avoided his gaze as he walked me to the elevator, ignoring the painful pangs in my chest as the doors glided shut.
When the car made it to Tyler’s floor, I stepped off and stood in the hallway for a long time. As much as I’d tried to get Chelsea’s voice out of my head this weekend, one of the more hurtful phrases remained.
“Is dating my brother and potentially hurting him, worth losing our friendship over?”
I wiped my eyes one last time and knocked on his door.
No answer.
I knocked again, much harder this time. Much longer this time.
“Hey …” He opened the door, dressed in nothing but a pair of dark grey briefs. “I was just about to—Whoa.” He cupped my face in his hands. “What’s wrong, babe?”
“You can’t call me that anymore.”
He raised his eyebrow. “Excuse me.”
“I don’t want to date you anymore,” I said, keeping my voice firm as tears fell down my face. “I think this has run its course and I need to focus on being alone and getting my life together post-divorce, you know?”
“No, I don’t know.” He wiped my tears away with his fingertips. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that you’ve been a really good distraction and an amazing fuck, but I need to stop kidding myself.”
He stepped back, looking beyond confused.
“I’m breaking up with you, and we’re over,” I said. “Better to end things now before one of us gets hurt.”
“In that case, I think you’re a little too late.”
Silence.
“I have a cab downstairs waiting for me.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. “He only agreed to give me ten minutes so I, uh…I need to get back down there if I’m going to make it back to Seattle in time for work.”
“Just like that?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re just going to walk out of my life and act like I don’t mean shit to you?”
“I said the sex was good.”
“I think we’re more than just sex at this point, Harlow.” He took a step forward, and I took a step back. “You weren’t like this yesterday. What’s changed?”
“Reality caught up to me,” I said. “That’s all.”
“Bullshit. Come inside and talk to me.”
I shook my head. “I’ll see you around.”
“Harlow…”
“It’s over, Tyler,” I said. “We’re over.”
He followed me to the elevator, looking as hurt and upset as I felt, but he didn’t get on. He glared at me as the doors closed, and I dissolved into tears all over again.
Alone
Tyler
The following morning
Chelsea: I can’t believe that Harlow took advantage of you. She knows better.
Chelsea: I also can’t believe that you didn’t know better. She’s like a sister to you, too. Well, “was.”
Chelsea: I need to talk to you before my wedding.
I’m not talking to you about shit.
I’d mentally replayed Harlow’s hurtful breakup speech a million times this morning, reading between the lines. I’d assumed that my sister had something to do with it, but now I knew for sure.
Seething, I scrolled down to Harlow’s name and hit call.
“You’ve reached the voicemail of Harlow McGuire!” It didn’t even ring. “Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”